


Mozart In A Go-Kart

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Alternate Universe - Werewolves are still a thing, BAMF Stiles, Betrayal, Blackmail, Canon-Typical Violence, Dancing, Dreams, Driving, Fights, Fist Fights, Gun Violence, Heist, Hurt Stiles, Inspired by Music, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Minor Character Death, Music, Protective Stiles, Revenge, Warning: Kate Argent, stereklyrics3, sterekweek2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 15:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 58,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12560952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: "What about your name?""Stiles," he replied simply, offering the man a smile"Stiles?" the waiter repeated, a smirk touching his lips"Your name is Stiles?"OR: The Baby Driver AU nobody asked for





	1. Playlist

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my God, I spent TWO MONTHS writing this behemoth! It just.... kept going and going and going... and I really hope you guys enjoy my blood, sweat, and tears! This first "chapter" is just the playlist that's going to be featured throughout the story, since it clearly wouldn't all fit in the author's notes and I also wanted to include links, believe it or not I actually really wanted to include MORE songs... like... thirty more... but anyway, the story begins next page!

Soundtrack in order of appearance:

 

  1. **[You Don't Own Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SeRU_ZPDkE) by Grace And G-Eazy**
  2. **[Misery Business](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCyGvGEtOwc) by Paramore**
  3. **[Out Of The Woods](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLf9q36UsBk) by Taylor Swift**
  4. **[Style](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CmadmM5cOk) by Taylor Swift**
  5. **[Blank Space](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ORhEE9VVg) by Taylor Swift**
  6. **[Ain't No Rest For The Wicked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKtsdZs9LJo)by Cage The Elephant**
  7. **[Love Is Strange](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD6Php_wel0) by Kristen Chenoweth**
  8. **[Love Is An Open Door](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPImqZo0D74) by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana**
  9. **[Heathens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UprcpdwuwCg) by Twenty-One Pilots**
  10. **[Trouble Is A Freind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-lxNf4hqc4)by Lenka**
  11. **[Animal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7Hlg75Mlo)by Neon Trees**
  12. **[Ballroom Blitz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewFBuYHldeY) by Sweet**
  13. **[Hotel California](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYlb_MnOhBs) by The Eagles**
  14. **[Freinds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1gzowRnbbU) by Band Of Skulls**
  15. **[Cough Syrup (Ra Ra Remix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIdndz6zME0) by Young The Giant**
  16. **[Carry On My Wayward Son](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_2IdybTV0) by Kansas**
  17. **[This Feeling (Derek's Theme)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFgP2hyxs18) by Of Montreal**
  18. **[Three Little Birds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBcM7x8wOmg) by Elijah Kelley and Meredith Anne Bull**
  19. **[Sucker For Pain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-59jGD4WrmE) by Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Wayne, Wiz Kahlifa, Logic, Imagine Dragons, and X Ambassadors**
  20. **[Cherry Bomb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNxKpYOOYvM) by The Runaways**
  21. **[Seven Nation Army](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOS1MiSkpdw) by Melanie Martinez**
  22. **[Tusk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7U7XtYeq8c) by Fleetwood Mac**
  23. **[Work Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH7bjV0Q_44) by Hozier**
  24. **[Sympathy For The Devil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8) by The Rolling Stones**
  25. **[Wam Bam Sham-A-Lang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZzBZQf_7Tk) by Silver**
  26. **[Glitter& Gold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrV90gXmOpA) by Barns Courtney**
  27. **[Fox On The Run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdFA6sI6-8)by Sweet**
  28. **[The Chain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P160_odTwyY) by Fleetwood Mac**
  29. **[Believer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wtfhZwyrcc)by Imagine Dragons**
  30. **[Me& My Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DoBSJ1cVv8) by Selena Gomez**
  31. **[The Wolf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1UAjpQVeFc)by Fever Ray**
  32. **[Bad Moon Rising](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNjgfTfQjCQ) by Mourning Rituals**
  33. **[Arsonist's Lullaby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoQvbDROucQ) by Hozier**
  34. **[Bad Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3aoIIKPps) by MIA**
  35. **[Human](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wKzyIN1yk)by Rag'N'Bone Man**
  36. **[Ignorance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH9A6tn_P6g) by Paramore**
  37. **[Summertime Sadness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVjsGKrE6E8) by Lana Del Rey**
  38. **[The Driver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXqHUopCJU) by Bastille**
  39. **[Requiem For Blue Jeans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeFLR9hKQ6Y) by Bastille**
  40. **[Bandits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Llsg-YLeQ) by Meg & Dia**
  41. **[Look What You Made Me Do](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K0RzZGpyds) by Taylor Swift**
  42. **[Exes And Ohs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uLI6BnVh6w) by Elle King**
  43. **[Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLEoictM8p4)by Barns Courtney**
  44. **[Kiss With A Fist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmxVCM39j4) by Florence + The Machine**
  45. **[A Little Party Never Killed Nobody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZgjmE6xdaw) by Fergie**
  46. **[Theif](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4gsAS8h3p0) by Ansel Elgort**
  47. **[Bohemian Rhapsody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ) by Queen**
  48. **[Die Wild](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKBvNAIpI-0) by Dia Frampton**
  49. **[Ghost Town](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKUjnyf8uY) by First Aid Kit**
  50. **[Hooked On A Feeling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI-UBIB8Jk) by Blue Suede**
  51. **[Uma Thurman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VTxYQL2SbA) by Fallout Boy**
  52. **[Sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scHS8YaYoRA) by Ed Sheeran**
  53. **[Living On A Prayer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk)by Bon Jovi**
  54. **[Wich Witch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dridksAWI0) by Florence + The Machine**
  55. **[Rooms On Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwnS_cGfaj4) by Stevie Nicks**
  56. **[Still Into You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OblL026SvD4) by Paramore**
  57. **[Goodnight Moon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCXeYq6KYZc) by Shivaree**
  58. **[A Waltz Into Mischeif](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpv5C5yFJ40) by Madness**




	2. They Call, I Go

_You don't own me_

"You going to be ready for us?"

_You don't own me_

All the driver gave was a small, silent nod

_Well let's go_

Three of the four car doors opened, the sound of three sets of feet touching the ground felt like an echo in his head and the doors shutting again was some kind of vibration deep in his body

He watched through the dark lenses of his sunglasses as the two men and one woman team started walking towards the bank

This wasn't how things usually went

This wasn't the typical type of job that they pulled

But his boss had been insistent that they go for this one, that they make it look like a robbery

Why, he didn't know, and frankly, he didn't _care_

He wanted to stay as far away from knowing anything about this "business" as possible, the less he had to know about it or be involved with it, the better

_You don't own me  
I'm not just one of your many toys_

He heard the screaming and shouting start, his hands tightening around the weel and closing his eyes

_You don't own me  
Don't say I can't go with other boys_

He inhaled deeply, the build up of the music increasing as he started to turn the volume up

**Vol. ||||||||  
Vol. |||||||||||||  
Vol. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||  
Vol. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||**

The music was up just high enough now to drown out the gunshots

_Don't tell me what to do_

But he could still tell, he had almost a sixth sense about that these days, knowing when guns were going off

_And don't tell me what to say_

He banged his hands against the steering weel, lips forming around the words as he tossed his head back and tried to let off a little steam

_Please, when I go out with you  
Don't put me on display_

He glanced up, heart jumping when he saw the three robbers burst out of the bank, reaching over to hurriedly turn the volume down to a more reasonable level

**Vol. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||  
Vol. ||||||||||||||||||||||||  
Vol. ||||||||||||||  
Vol. ||||||**

The doors slammed shut and without even waiting for the man next to him to straighten out he peeled out of the parking space, pedal to the metal, racing down the road as quickly as he could

_Don't tell me what to do_

He could hear the sirens behind him as the cops swarmed after them, his hands tightening on the weel

_And don't tell me what to say_

"Hurry up!!! Kick up the freaking speed!"

_Please when I go out with you_

He gritted his teeth, eyes hard as he suddenly turned and went down a different direction, the passengers in the car all tilting to one side from the sudden swirve

_Don't put me on display_

Up ahead, he could see a peer, there would be no room to turn around without risking going in the water in approximately seven seconds, but there was just enough room right here, right now to turn

"Hey!!! Freak with the glasses! Watch where you're going!"

_I get bored of basic **No!**_

Another swirve, hands tight on the weel as he rushed right past the cop cars

He could hear several of the cars screeching against the wood of the peer and he hurried to turn down the alley he had just come from, heading towards the nearest highway

There were still four cops behind him, they had to lose them before getting to the parking garage...

There was a highway roughly fourty seconds ahead going eighty, if he could get there and get lost in traffic...

_Nah, she's the one_

He turned down another narrow road, turning into the opposite lane

_Smoke with her until the **Ah!**_

He came to a sudden stop, screams and curses coming from his passengers as he turned the car around again and pulled into the first lane, now behind the cop cars

As predicted, the cops did everything they could to turn around and follow behind him again, but they were too late, by the time the last cop car turned towards the other lane he shot forward, cranking the speed up to ninety as he managed to get to the highway

_To say and do whatever I please!_

He easily swirved and swirled, weaving his way into the heart of traffic until his simple white Toyota blended in easily with atleast four other white cars driving down the road

He easily pulled off into the parking garage, heading down to the second floor

_You don't own me_

He pulled into the space, his three "team mates" hurrying to get out of the car and start towards the second car across from them

_You don't own me_

He yanked the keys out and headed to the second car as well, slipping into the driver's seat and starting it up before plugging his iPod into the jack

"What the hell are you doing!? GO!"

The driver rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, scrolling down until he found the song he wanted

**Misery Business - Paramore**

Satisfied, he pulled out of the parking garage, driving off towards the road as he heard the sirens of the cop cars enter the garage

Unfortunately for them they would only find an empty car

_I'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top_

 

~+~

 

_Looking at it now, last December  
We were built to fall apart, then fall back together_

By now, the young driver had gotten quite good at dodging things that come in his way on his walk to the coffee place

He was able to duck under moving furniture, spin past people on the street, easily bend and twist away from opening and closing doors

It felt like the entire street was involved in some kind of elaborate musical number everytime he stepped into the heart of it and it was INCREDIBLE

_We moved the furniture so we could dance  
Baby like we stood a chance_

He didn't even care that people stared at him, having no reason to be bothered by their looks

So what if he was lip-syncing to music they couldn't hear?

So what if he was dancing in the middle of the street for no apparent reason?

He didn't care what people thought about him, they thought more than enough as it was and he was past the point of giving a crap

_Are we out of the woods yet?_

He spun around a street lamp, easily dodging past a small group of teenagers

_Are we out of the woods yet?_

He ducked underneath a couple of movers carrying a couch, jumping up on the rail to the stairs leading to the street below him

_Are we out of the woods yet?_

He slid down the rail, jumping onto the short wall surrounding the local park and dancing along it for a few steps

_Are we out of the woods?_

He jumped down again, reaching into his pocket and pulling out three dollar bills

_Are we in the clear yet?_

He spun around a mailman, bowing dramatically as he handed the money to the flourist next to him and took a single rose from the stand she had outside

_Are we in the clear yet?_

Spotting the coffee shop up ahead, he jumped across the street, bending backwards to avoid being hit by a bike rider going down the same crosswalk, and grabbing the street lamp with his free hand, pulling himself up against it to swing onto the sidewalk

_Are we in the clear yet?_

He inhaled the scent of the rose, stepping into the coffee shop and allowing the soft aroma of coffee to fill his senses

_In the clear yet, good_

"Next?"

He looked up, blinking at the barista and walking up to the counter

"Four coffees black and a bottle of coke,"

"Name?"

"Stiles,"

The barista stared up at him as if he didn't believe him

 _"Stiles?"_ he echoed

Stiles just raised his eyebrows expectingly, watching the barista grab a notepad and a pen

"How do you spell that?"

The age old question

"S-T-I--"

"I've got it Isaac,"

Stiles couldn't help but feel a little relieved at the intervention from the other barista, glad to see the familiar face

"Same as usual Stiles?" he asked with a warm smile

"Always," the other man replied, holding the rose out towards the barista and tilting his sunglasses down to give him a playfull wink

"You know, if you keep giving me these roses, I'm going to have to start giving you a discount," the barista threatened teasingly as he took the flower

"I'd be so sad to see that happen," Stiles teased back as he watched the other man make his way towards the coffee machines

The barista gave a laugh, walking towards the cooler and sliding the door open

"What name do you want on your coke today? I've got Clark and Peter,"

Stiles froze, his heart dropping down into his stomach and his face turning pale

"Peter...?"

"Yeah, you know, Peter Parker?"

That brought a wave of releif over him, taking a long, deep breath before forcing a smile

"Clark, I've been looking for that one for a wile, besides I uh... already have a Peter,"

_Unfortunately_

The barista just smiled, setting the bottle marked **Clark** on the counter as he grabbed some cups to start filling

"You're never going to believe who my mom is dating now, by the way,"

"Your mom is trying dating again?" he asked with surprise

"Yeah, why?" the barista asked with a confused frown

"Scott... didn't you BITE the last guy?"

"I... _no_....."

"You threatened to though,"

Scott hung his head, apparently admitting guilt

"He wasn't good enough for her," he muttered, starting to pour the coffee

" _Ergo_ I'm surprised she's dating anyone," Stiles teased

"Well you'll be even more surprised by _who_ she's dating- _Argent_ ,"

Stiles paused, eyebrows raising as Scott started scribbling his name on the coffees

" _Argent? **Chris** Argent_? As in, your ex-girlfreind's dad who threatened to SHOOT you Argent?"

"Yep,"

"That.... wow, that's... yep, you're right, I'm shocked, how are you even alive dude?"

"I don't know, I mean... I do LIKE Argent, sorta, and Allison and I are both in other relationships but... it's still kind of awkward..."

"No kidding,"

"They want to have a family dinner next weekend," Scott added, setting the carrier of coffee cups in front of the other man as Stiles set the cash for the order down on the counter

"Define.... 'family'....."

"Well... my mom and Argent, obviously, me, Kira, Allison, her foster-brother Isaac and her girlfreind Lydia, Kira's parents, and I think maybe Lydia's mom..."

Stiles slowly shook his head, wincing again as he picked up the drinks and turned on his heel

"Let me know if you live through it Scotty!"

"Yeah, I will, see you later Stiles!"

Stiles gave a half-wave, reaching into his pocket with the hand holding his coke and turning up the volume on his iPod as he walked

_Midnight, you come and pick me up, no headlights  
Long drive, could end in burning flames or paradise_

 

~+~

 

"Finally," Jackson huffed, nose wrinkled as he turned his attention towards the door

Stiles didn't even glance up as he started placing all of the coffee cups down in front of each member of the team, heading all the way to the back of the room where he had a small desk of his own to sit at

"Right, now that our fifth weel has shown up, where were we?" the man at the front of the room asked, turning back to the chalkboard

"You were just talking about our portions of the cut," Theo replied with a small smirk

Stiles heaved a long, loud sigh and cranked up his iPod a little bit louder, leaning his head back so he could attempt to tune it all out

And he succeeded, for the most part, until he saw Jackson start to hover over him again, taking one of his earbuds out and snorting at the music currently playing

_But you'll come back each time you leave  
'Cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed as a daydream-_

"Really? Taylor Swift?" he snorted, dropping the earbud

Stiles didn't react at all, just put the bud back in his ear and atleast tried to ignore him

Jackson huffed, turning towards the other people in the room with an annoyed look on his face

"Hey Peter, what's wrong with him?"

The man at the front of the room turned around, a rather pinched look on his face as he did

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ , what's wrong with him? Is he like uh... mental or something?"

"Was he slow?" Peter asked suddenly, apparently taking Jackson off guard

"Um... what-"

"Did he drive slow? You mean 'mental' as in slow right, was he slow?"

"No, no ... he was fast,"

And Jackson seemed to be physically pained by that notion

"Then that answers your question doesn't it?"

Jackson was practically fuming now- _good_ \- as Peter turned his attention back to everyone else, clearing his throat in order to regain control of the group

"Now, what's our main rule?"

"No contact with you for three days," Kali noted

"Wich won't be a problem, given the two of us are going to be quite busy getting to know eachother better over the next few weeks, I already have a date planned at _Maria's_ , the finest place to wine and dine in this city," Theo added with a smirk

"That's disgusting, but fine," Peter snipped back with a roll of his eyes

"Look, we get it, no meetups for the next few days, are we done now?" Jackson huffed

Peter seemed considerably less than pleased, but for once, he didn't seem to resist

"I think we're just about done, yes,"

 

~+~

 

"Don't pay any attention to Jackson, you know he's one molecule short of an ameba," Peter noted as he stepped out of the elevator, Stiles following close behind him

"Yet you keep him around," Stiles noted with a wrinkle of his nose

"Yes well... kanima are a bit hard to come by," Peter replied with a simple shrug, leading Stiles towards one of the many cars in the garage and pausing in front of it, reaching out to gently place a hand on his shoulder

"I do mean it though Stiles, you're an incredibly valuable asset, and an extremely bright kid, no matter what our arrangement is I firmly believe that, and if Jackson tries to jeopordize your job again, I'll yank a knot so high up in his tail he'll feel it in his throat,"

Stiles never knew what to do with this

Peter was not the kind of person to get in bed with- figuratively _or_ literally

He was dangerous and an extremist and probably psychopathic and he was freaking _blackmailing_ Stiles here in all of the worst ways but he also kept trying to wedge his way into Stiles' life as some sort of demented father figure, trying to endear himself to Stiles as if he actually wanted Stiles to have a reason to stick around after his agreement was up

Fat chance of that happening, and Stiles already had a father thank you very much

He didn't need Peter, or any of the crap that he brought with him, the second he was done with this debt he was gone- end of story

No matter how confusingly good it felt to have someone on his side for once, always going to bat for him when people put him down and actually _winning_ in ways his actual father had never quite managed to grasp onto

It didn't matter that Peter was trying to carve out a soft spot in Stiles' heart, there were no places he could dig that would ever make Stiles forgive him for all of the hell he was being put through

"I've got one job left, I don't want Jackson on it," he finally said

"He wasn't going to be anyway, now, give me your phone,"

He sighed softly, handing over his burner phone as Peter replaced it with a new one, handing him the keys to the car behind them, as well as a large stack of hundred dollar bills, easily totalling ten thousand dollars, and smirking at him

"I have a little gift for you too, I was going to wait until graduation day but... you're almost paid up and I'm just too excited," he said with a purr, handing Stiles a pair of black leather driving gloves

Stiles knew better to resist

"Now, I know that I don't have to remind you that, should you try to screw me over or not pick up the phone when I call, I'll break your legs and then kill everyone you love.... do I?"

"No," Stiles gritted out

"Mm, I'm never going to get a 'No SIR' out of you am I?"

"Go fullfill your kink someplace else," he grumbled

"Fair enough, I'll be in touch," he chuckled, turning to walk away

"One more job," Stiles said suddenly, causing Peter to pause and turn around

"One more job, then I'm done," he repeated

"One more job, then you and I are even, you'll no longer be in debt," Peter replied

Stiles gave a tight nod, and Peter smirked at him again, starting back towards the elevator

Stiles huffed, turning up the volume on his iPod

_I said "You're such a sweet young thing  
Why do you do this to yourself?"_

"I'll be in touch!" Peter called over his shoulder

Stiles gritted his teeth, getting in the car and slamming the door and jamming the keys in the ignition

He was white-nuckled on the steering weel as he plugged the iPod into the jack, turning the volume up as loud as he could handle before peeling out of the parking garage

_I know I can't slow down, I can't hold back, you know I wish I could  
No there ain't no rest for the wicked  
Until we close our eyes for good_

 

~+~

 

Stiles was tired

Ofcourse at this point that was akin to saying "The sky is blue" but still

Stiles was always tired, and that was exactly why he always ended up coming to this diner at all hours of the day and night

Sure it was still relatively early in the day, not even noon yet, but he had been up since ... incredibly early that morning, and honestly, playing get-away driver for some professional killers was bound to take it out of anybody after a few hours

He sighed softly, rubbing at his eyes beneath his sunglasses and licking his lips as he tried to concentrate on something other than the crap he had just been through

_"Love is strange..."_

He blinked in surprise and confusion at the voice, looking up and feeling his breath catch in his throat

He suddenly felt as if his entire world was spinning in the opposite direction now as his eyes landed on the waiter cleaning the table a few feet from his

_"Love is strange...."_

He felt like he was watching an old black and white movie, some sort of James Dean thing with leather jackets and poodle skirts, and all that existed in the entire world was him and the waiter and a Cadillac on the open road

_"Love is strange....."_

The man suddenly looked up from the table he was cleaning and they locked eyes, and the world suddenly stopped spinning entirely, instead standing still, suspended in stasis where only the two of them existed

It stayed like that for so much longer than Stiles could imagine was ever possible, and yet it didn't seem to actually stay like that at all

Because at some point he heard a stranger's voice and blinked out of it, startling when he stared up at the waiter, who was easily even more stunning up close than he was at a distance

His hair was as dark as night, wich clung not only to his head, but to his face as well, he was muscular but not overly so, not like a body builder or anything, just.... very well exercised apparently, and his eyes...

His eyes were the most outstanding mesh of green and gold and copper and hazel and God... Stiles didn't even know what else....

His eyes were so stunning that he had to tilt his sunglasses down to get a better look, he even popped one of his earbuds out to pay better attention to him

"I asked if you knew what you wanted yet," the waiter said with a slight smirk

"O-Oh um..."

He glanced down at the menu, trying to get his thoughts gathered, only for the waiter to lean down and smuggly flip it over for him

"That would be the kid's menu you were looking at,"

"Oh my God," Stiles grumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly and giving his head a slow, frustrated shake

"I'm sorry, my mind is mush today, I'm exhausted, sorry," he muttered

"It's really fine, _trust me_ , you aren't the first nor the last to have that problem, myself included, so um... you just starting work or just getting off?" he asked curiously

"Getting off," Stiles replied with a reluctant yawn

"Wow, what do you do that keeps such absurd hours?"

"I'm a driver,"

"Oh, like... a taxi or an Uber?"

"Um... no, no nothing that simple,"

This brought a look of surprise across the waiter's face as he tilted his head and gave Stiles a curious look

"What, then.... limos?"

"Sometimes, I never really know ahead of time,"

"And I take it you don't have a schedule or anything," he assumed

"Nope, they call, I go, it's... not ideal, but the cars are always nice,"

"Oh? Then your clientele must be pretty important people, anyone I would know?" the waiter asked with a small smirk

"I hope not," Stiles smirked back

The waiter looked at him a bit curiously, but clearly wasn't that concerned

"Why don't I get you some coffee?" he suggested

"Coffee would be great, thanks,"

Stiles hated coffee, but he would drink a cup full of crushed roaches if this guy offered it to him

"Coming right up," the waiter said with a slight smirk, eyebrows raising as the cell phone Stiles had set on the table started to vibrate

That freaking phone....

"Do you have to-?"

"No," Stiles said immediately, giving him a tight smile

"No, I don't, um... by the way, what was that song you were singing earlier-"

He paused, glancing at the guy's nametag and raising his eyebrows

"- _Daisy_?"

The waiter seemed a little surprised, glancing down at his nametag and giving a small huff

"They haven't gotten my name tag in yet, and it was 'Love Is Strange' by Kristen Chenoweth,"

"Oh from 'Strange Magic'? SERIOUSLY underrated movie, I can't believe I forgot that song.... I guess you just sing it so well I didn't even notice,"

 _"Daisy's"_ face turned bright red, clearly not having been prepared for the compliment as he cleared his throat and ducked his head

"I... it was on the radio," he mumbled

"I didn't think you could hear it, your ears must be pretty good, especially with those earbuds in,"

"I just have a good ear for music," he shrugged back

Wich wasn't really a lie, when it came to music he could tune out pretty much everything else around him and hone in on it- even other music

"Quite a talent," the waiter said with a small smirk, turning to walk away

"Wait! Um.... so if I shouldn't call you Daisy, then what SHOULD I call you?"

The waiter paused, staring over at him and giving him a small, almost shy smile

"Derek,"

 _Derek_....

Stiles loved that name

"What about your name?"

"Stiles," he replied simply, offering the man a smile

"Stiles?" the waiter repeated, a smirk touching his lips

"Your name is Stiles?"

And, not at all taken aback or offended by Derek's surprise, Stiles just gave a nod of affirmation, watching as the waiter smirked at him and turned back on his way again

"Well, I'll be right back with your coffee then, _Stiles_ ,"

Even though Derek didn't start singing again, Stiles could practically hear it in his head as he watched the man walk away

_Love is strange...._

 

~+~

 

_"Love is an open doooor! Love is an open doooooor! With you, with you, with you-"_

"So who is it?"

Stiles jumped suddenly, dropping the mop he had been using and spinning around on his heel to face the man behind him

"Wah- ... heeey Dad... what do you mean 'who is it'?" he asked, clearing his throat and turning the volume down a little on his iPod

"I mean... who are you singing about?"

"I'm not singing about anyone," he muttered back, clearing his throat and moving to put the mop away, cheeks starting to turn red

"Son, you only sing Disney love songs when you're interested in someone,"

"Do not!"

"Really? Remember Scott the barista? Or Lydia Martin?"

Stiles deflated slightly, wrinkling his nose, so maybe his father might have a SLIGHT point....

"So, come on, who is it?"

"His.... his name is Derek," Stiles replied with a slight smile

"Derek huh? Sounds like a bad boy, he isn't, is he?"

"Nope, he's a waiter, and he likes Strange Magic, so definitely not a bad boy,"

"And you're sure he's not straight right?"

Stiles sighed, shoulders sagging

"Dad-"

"I'm just saying, I don't want you to have to experience another Barista Scott,"

"I didn't ask, but I... I don't know, I feel .... SPECIAL about this one,"

"Special how?" his father asked curiously

Stiles shrugged, swaying a little as he leaned against the counter behind him

"I don't know like... like 'Never Let Me Go' special, like 'Bird Without Wings' special like.... like 'Falling Slowly' special,"

"Wow, 'Falling Slowly' special, that's incredible," he said with a small smirk

Stiles snorted, grinning from ear to ear- ... only for his smile to falter a moment later when his phone began vibrating again

"I... have to take this, but listen, there's dinner for you in the oven ok?"

"Steak?" his father asked with a fake hopefull smirk

"Vegetarian lasagna, and you should be just thankfull I'm letting you have cheese," Stiles corrected

His father rolled his eyes, but that response was enough for Stiles to take as a positive- or atlest neutral- reply, so he said a quick "See you soon" and hurried out of the house, taking a shakey breath as he answered the phone

_"I've been calling you for hours Stiles,"_

"Yeah, well, believe it or not Peter people actually do function outside of driving cars, I haven't had my phone on,"

_"Do I need to remind you how this works Stiles? I call, you come, or you'll end up breathing through a tube at the funerals of everyone you've ever cared about,"_

"Well if you want to lose your best driver because I had a long shower then that's on you now isn't it?"

He heard Peter chuckle on the other end of the phone, an irritated look crossing Stiles' face in response to it

_"Be here Stiles, we need to talk, c'mon... one more drive and then you're all paid up,"_

He sucked on his teeth, angry and frustrated and just... wanting so BADLY to tell Peter to eat his entire- ...

He couldn't

He knew he couldn't

Not if he wanted to keep his dad safe...

"I'll see you in ten," he grunted back, hanging up the phone and heaving a long, loud sigh as he made his way to the car, getting in and popping his earbuds out only long enough to plug his iPod into the jack before starting it up again, turning the volume up loud as he put his seatbelt on

_All my freinds are heathens take it slow_

He took a deep breath, backing out of the driveway

_Wait for them to ask you who you know_

He turned onto the street, clutching the weel tightly

_Please don't make any sudden moves_

He stepped on the gas, glaring through the windsheild as he took off towards the meeting spot

_You don't know the half of the abuse_

 

~+~

 

"Stiles, glad you could join us,"

Stiles wanted to bite back at Peter's comment, to tell him exactly where he could shove his sarcasm, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good

All he could do realistically was just hold back and wait, bide his time, this was his lost job and he had held out this long, he could make it one more time

"Allow me to introduce you to your new team, you have Violet, Garrett, and Donovan; team, this is your driver, Stiles,"

Stiles didn't bother to say anything, just gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and made his way over to the end of the long center table, sitting down and taking a few little metal cars out of his pocket, setting them down in front of him as Peter made his way to the chalkboard and started mapping out the plan

Stiles allowed himself to zone out, to sink into the world of the music, to let it consume him

_Trouble he will find you no matter where you go, oh oh  
No matter if you're fast no matter if you're slow, oh oh_

He let his fingers trail around the metal of the cars, enjoying the cool, smooth sensation under his fingertips as his eyes glanced up here and there at whatever Peter was spouting off

He couldn't be bothered to be pulled from his daydream, from the images flashing through his mind

Derek in a letterman's jacket standing next to a Camaro, Stiles decked out in leather, running up to meet him...

_Trouble is a freind but trouble is a foe, oh oh  
And no matter what I feed him he always seems to grow, oh oh  
He sees what I see and he knows what I know oh-_

"Hey I've got a question, why is it that we're sitting here, listening to Murder 101, when Earbuds over there doesn't hear a freaking word you're saying?"

If Stiles remembered correctly, that would have been Donovan speaking up

Peter's attention turned towards the driver then, a slight smirk on his face

"Stiles?"

Stiles looked up, eyebrows raising just a bit as he recited what he had heard

"We have three targets, two orderlies and a doctor, Brunski, Belasko, and Fenris, you'll enter in through an emergency exit in the basement once the power is out- wich will be accomplished by a banshee we have on the inside named Meredith- from then you'll have ten minutes to locate the targets and kill them, try to make it look human, guns preferred, only with silencers, we want to draw as little attention to this as possible, don't forget to grab their nametags, when you're finished Meredith will be waiting for you at the emergency exit to make sure you get out safely, any questions?"

The room was quiet, all except for the music still playing in Stiles' ears, and Peter gave a smug smirk towards the rest of the crew

"Good, now I need four sets of eyes and three sets of ears up here so we can get the rest of this plan hammered out,"

Stiles took note of the dirty look coming his way from Donovan, but did nothing and said nothing in response to it

He just zoned out again, allowing the music to take over once more

_Oh how I hate the way he makes me feel  
And how I try to make him leave, I try  
Oh oh I try...._

 

~+~

 

"How come you listen to music all the time? You have some kind of... disorder or something?"

"I didn't know someone had to have a 'disorder' to enjoy music," Stiles replied blandly as he turned down the road

"Not to enjoy it, just ... to obsess over it the way you do, I mean, do you ever take those freaking plugs out of your ears?"

Stiles could reply to that- but he held back, now just wasn't the time

"You know, I never like guys who drive with music on,"

Apparently some people can't take a hint

"I went on a heist with this one guy once who wouldn't drive without the radio on, he was a pretty superstitious guy you know? Had a bunch of songs that he thought were bad luck, called 'em 'jinx songs', you know, things like Hotel California, Don't Fear The Reaper, Nockin' On Heaven's Door, you know, that sort of thing, he thought if those songs came on the radio it meant we were going to die, so this particular day, we pull up outside of the bank, everything is going perfectly, we're just about to get out, and then, wouldn't you know, Stairway To Heaven comes on the radio, this guy starts freaking out, thinking we're all gonna die and demands we call it off,"

"So what did you do?" Violet asked from the backseat

"What do you think I did? I told him where he could suck and robbed the freaking bank! And do I look dead to you? I made all that money and Mr. Superstitious didn't make a cent, ofcourse.... he died a week later but that was for a different reason," he snickered

"Do all of your stories end with someone dieing?" Violet huffed

"Well, I guess we're gonna find out now aren't we?" Donnovan smirked back

"We're here," Stiles bit out with an unamused huff, parking the car in the parkinglot

"Hey.... you don't have any jinx songs, do you?" Donnovan asked slowly, leaning towards the driver's seat

"No," Stiles replied simply, hoping that would be the end of it and glancing at the backseat as one of the other crew members- Garrett- pulled a few masks out of a papper bag

The masks had been Peter's idea, wanting the murders to really look like they had been committed by a group of humans and not wanting to risk anyone seeing their faces

It was different from how these things usually went on, but then they didn't usually happen at public places either

"What the hell are these!? You were supposed to get Micheal Meyers masks!" Donnovan shouted

"This IS Mike Meyers!" Garrett insisted

"No, the Halloween mask!"

"This IS a Halloween mask!"

Stiles could steadily sense Donnovan losing his patience, and frankly, he wasn't sure who's irritation he was more amused by

"The serial killer dude from Halloween!!"

"Ohhh you mean Jason,"

That irritated the movie fan in Stiles just enough to jump in with the other two on their simultaneous scream of "NO!"

But it seemed like it was too late to fix anything and, with clear frustration, Donnovan and Violet reached out to grab the masks and put them on, putting their hands on the doors and preparing to step out, only for Stiles to stop them

"Wait!"

"What!?" Donnovan snapped

"I have to start the song over," Stiles replied simply, fiddling with his iPod until the song started over again

"Alright, you can go now,"

If looks could kill, the one Donnovan was currently giving Stiles would have certainly put him in the grave

But he didn't care, all he cared about was turning the volume up on his iPod and letting the music wash over him

_Here we go again, I kinda wanna be more than freinds  
So take it easy on me, I'm afraid you're never satisfied  
Here we go again, we're sick like animals, we play pretend  
You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid I won't get out alive_

He had been almost perfectly zoned out for a little wile, until he happened to glance out the window and catch the sight of someone else

There was a man in a lab coat unlocking the door of a truck, glancing around suspiciously at his surroundings

Stiles.... kind of recognized him....

He looked kind of like the local vet...

Stiles had never met him personally or anything but he had seen him at the coffee shop talking to Scott a few weeks ago, apparently Scott was in college to become a vet and had been getting some mentoring from the guy

Dr. .. Declan?

Deacon?

He wasn't sure....

His eyes narrowed, watching curiously as the man got into the truck

He was spending so much time and attention watching the possible vet, as a matter of fact, that he didn't even notice the rest of his crew had gotten back until the doors opened

"Go! GO!" Donnovan shouted as he slammed the door of the car

Stiles' heart jumped and he hurried to turn his attention back to the road and turned the music up

_Alright fellas, let's go!_

He stomped on the gas, peeling out of the parkinglot like a bat out of hell as he hurried to get out of the area

"What the hell's the matter with you idiot!?" Donnovan screamed

_Oh it's been getting so hard, living with the things you do to me_

Stiles' heart was pounding just as loudly as the drums in the song were, but he forced himself to concentrate, to ignore Donnovan and just.... GO!

_My dreams are getting so strange, I'd like to tell you everything I see_

His hands were tight fists around the weel, but atleast he was in his element now, he was good at this, he was a driver, this was what he was born for

_Oh I see a man in the back as a matter of fact, his eyes are as red as the sun_

"Uh-oh, we've got trouble!" Garrett hissed as he ripped his mask off, his eyes starting to turn red

_And the girl in the corner let no one ignore her, 'cause she thinks she's the passionate one_

"What kind of trouble!?" Violet shouted, ripping off her own mask as Stiles turned down onto a highway and she fell against the cardoor beside her

_Oh yeah, it was like lightening!_

"We're being tailed!"

_Everybody was frightening!_

"By who, the cops!?" Donnovan shouted

_And the music was soothing!_

Stiles turned the music up another notch, trying **desperately** to focus on that and not the chaos going on around him- it was only working to a small degree

_And they all started grooving!_

"No, by some freak in a truck!!"

_**The vet.....** _

_And the man in the back said everyone attack and it turned into a ballroom blitz_

"Don't worry, we'll get rid of him," Garrett smirked, cocking his gun as he reached over to roll down the window

_And the girl in the corner said "Boy I wanna warn ya' it'll turn into a ballroom blitz"_

"I'll do it, I'm a freaking surgeon with a shotgun," Violet smirked, hurrying to click the safety off of her own gun

 _'Not if I can help it...'_ Stiles thought, swallowing thickly as he suddenly slammed his foot down on the breaks, nocking everyone out of place as he swirved in the opposite direction, successfully screeching past the vet's truck

"What the hell is the matter with you you freaking headcase!?"

_Oh reaching out for something, touching nothing's all I ever do_

"He's tailing us again!" Violet shouted

_Oh I softly call you over, when you appear there's nothing left of you_

Stiles could feel the sweat dripping down his body, fear and anxiety starting to hit their peaks as he stepped harder on the gas, willing to do _anything_ to keep from getting an innocent person killed

_And the man in the back is ready to crack as he raises his hands to the sky_

"If this idiot behind the weel would ever drive straight I'd be able to get a freaking shot!" Garrett screamed as he rolled the window down and leaned out with the shotgun aimed

_And the girl in the corner is everyone's woman, she could kill you with the wink of her eye_

"I can get it," Violet promised, her fangs dropping as her eyes began to turn red themselves, scrambling to lean over Garrett's shoulder as she aimed the gun out through the window

_Oh yeah, it was electric!_

Stiles heard the guns starting to go off and he swirved suddenly to the right, turning in a circle and successfully nocking both vampires away from the window as he sped desperately towards the right road

_So perfectly hectic!_

"JESUS! What's the matter with you!?" Garret screamed

_And the band started leaving!_

Stiles' face paled as he approached the end of the road- well, not quite, more like _the top of the hill_ \- there was a huge drop from here, one that would either save them.... or kill them.....

_'Cause they all stopped breathing!_

He held his breath as he drove off of the edge of the hill, the car seeming to fly for a breif moment as Stiles started muttering a spell under his breath, his hands glowing with an orchid tinge to them as the car crashed down on the highway- in one peice, thankfully

_And the man in the back said everyone attack and it turned into a ballroom blitz_

"What the hell!? That freak in the truck is still tailing us!"

_And the girl in the corner said "Boy I wanna warn ya' it'll turn into a ballroom blitz"_

"We've got this!"

"No, I'VE got this," Donnovan insisted, mask long gone as he cocked his own gun and shifted in his seat

Stiles felt sick to his stomach, gritting his teeth as he stomped on the gas as fast as he could, swirving in and out of the lanes to avoid other cars

_Oh yeah, it was like lightening!_

He wasn't fast enough, how was he not fast enough!?

_Everybody was frightening!_

Somehow the vet had pulled up right beside them and was clearly trying to run them off the road

_And the music was soothing!_

His hands tightened around the weel as he heard Donnovan adjust the gun

_And they all started grooving!_

He squeezed his eyes shut, the magic starting to rush through him as his hands glowed violet

_And the man in the back said everyone attack and it turned into a ballroom blitz_

"What the hell...? My gun won't work!"

_And the girl in the corner said "Boy I wanna warn ya' it'll turn into a ballroom blitz"_

"Mine won't either!"

_Ballroom blitz!_

"Neither will mine," Donnovan hissed, squeezing down harder on the trigger- but nothing happened

_It's it's a ballroom blitz_

Stiles swirved suddenly, nocking them all around as the car went tumbling off of the road

_It's it's a ballroom blitz_

The car tossed and turned and tumbled into the weeds, glass breaking and metal crunching

_It's it's a ballroom blitz_

Flames erupted over the hood of the car, creeping over the entirety of the vehicle

_Yeah it's a ballroom blitz!_

Finally the car stopped rolling, allowing Stiles to use his magic to blast the doors off of the car and crawl out

He coughed as smoke flooded his lungs, hurrying to grab his iPod and crawl out of the car, then waiting for the others to climb out as well before sprinting towards the parking garage- luckily it was only a few short yards away

The sound of sirens filled his ears as they all ran towards the parking garage, Donovan, Garrett, and Violet obviously making it there first as Stiles hurried to unlock the second car, sliding in and jamming his keys in the ignition before peeling out of there

He turned the radio on as quickly as he could, heart hammering in his chest as he listened to the song he happened to catch

_Welcome to the Hotel California_

 

~+~

 

"You know, what really strikes me here is just how EASY this job should have been," Peter said slowly, lounging back against the table he was leaning against

"You only had three targets, you had virtually no security to get past, nothing that would get you chased by cops, and you even had help on the inside, so HOW is it that you screwed up THIS royally?"

"I'll tell you how, we got stuck with a driver who can't drive!" Donnovan shouted

"This freaking idiot was trying to kill us all! Swirving around everywhere and crashing the car, you wanna blame someone Peter!? Well blame him!"

"Actually," Peter said slowly, not at all impressed by Donnovan's rant, "Meredith informed me that you were over a minute late meeting her, was Stiles late getting you there?"

"No, Garrett here just can't tell the difference between Micheal Meyers and Mike Meyers," Violet huffed back

Peter glanced breifly in Garrett's direction, but otherwise seemed to be more interested in Donnovan

"So how exactly is this Stiles' fault?"

"Because he drove like a maniac! If I had just gotten a clean shot at the stupid vet who was following us we could've been here a half hour ago!"

"Well as it were, it's a good thing you DIDN'T get a clean shot, if you had killed someone out in the open like that you would have drawn even more attention to yourselves than you already did and in case you don't remember the entire point of the masks and the guns and all of the rigger-moral was to prevent anyone from catching on to who you were! If you shot someone in the middle of the day wile on your way out of Eichen don't you think they'd assume that the people who killed the people in Eichen were, I don't know, YOU?! I cannot STRESS to you enough the importance of keeping a low profile that this job had and you already ruined that to a degree, the only thing that prevented even MORE attention was the fact that you didn't kill the other driver," Peter ranted with a long, loud, exhale of frustration

Everyone was quiet for a moment as Peter rubbed his hand over his face, pinching his nose and inhaling deeply

"Look.... did you idiots atleast get the name badges?"

Violet silently stepped forward, holding them out for her boss

"Good, atleast you did SOMETHING right," he grumbled

"I think it would be best if we all lay low for a few days, give it maybe a week, no jobs, no fights, no heists-"

"Woah woah, no _heists_? You can't just decide that for us! We aren't your employees, we're your PARTNERS- by CHOICE! Look man, if you don't want another job with us, that's your business, but you're not gonna tell me when I can and can't pull my own heists!!" Garrett shouted with rage

Peter was quiet for a short moment before turning towards Stiles, staring at him calmly

"Stiles, why don't you go get our coffee now hm?" Peter asked slowly, handing Stiles a small roll of cash to pay for the drinks

He sounded like he was talking to a child, and that's exactly how Stiles felt too- like a child, being told to go to his room wile the adults fought

Screw that

"I think I'd rather stay here and observe," Stiles frowned back

But Peter wasn't having any of it, simply crossing his arms over his chest and staring at Stiles expectingly

"Stiles, the job isn't done until we have coffee,"

Wich was Peter's way of saying "Get the coffee or this job won't count and you'll have to do another one for me"

And Stiles, despite how much he wanted to tell Peter exactly where he could pour that coffee, wanted to get out of this as soon as possible

"Whatever," he said with a slight huff, cranking up the volume on his iPod a little as he started walking out of the room, trying to drown out everything around him, if he didn't, he would be tempted to stay and risk having his opportunity to leave this hellish place yanked away

_And my freinds, 'cause they're so beautifull  
Yeah my freinds, they are so beautifull  
They're my freinds_

 

~+~

 

"Four black coffees and a coke with a superhero name on it?"

Stiles' lips quirked up slightly and he snapped his fingers, a rose appearing between them as he handed the flower to Scott

"Are you sure you should be doing magic in public?" he asked quietly- though it didn't stop him from taking the rose

"It's ok, if anyone gets suspicious I'll just say I'm a magician," he shrugged

That seemed to be satisfactory enough to Scott as the man stepped over to the cooler and took a coke out of the box

"I hope Jean is ok, it's the only superhero name we have... that I know of,"

"Jean works great," Stiles promised, grabbing the small roll of cash out of his pocket to pay for the drinks

Scott nodded, starting to work on the coffee next

"So I was right, by the way,"

"About what?" Stiles asked absently

"Lydia's mom- she _will_ be at dinner with us,"

"You mean the dinner from hell?" he asked with raised eyebrows

"Yeeeeep,"

Stiles winced, wrinkling his nose

"So when is the most awkward dinner of the century?"

"Next Saturday at the Argents', we're going to carpool with Kira and her parents," he explained, setting the coffee cups down on the counter

"Wow, so you don't even have to wait until you get to dinner for the awkwardness to ensue huh? Man... who did you miff in a past life?"

"I have no idea," Scott said with a frustrated sigh, shaking his head and giving Stiles a weak smile

"Me neither but you might want to get that checked," Stiles teased, sliding his sunglasses on before grabbing the drinks

"I'll keep that in mind," Scott teased slightly

Stiles gave a short nod of acknowledgement, turning to walk out of the coffee shop as he allowed himself to tune fully back into the music playing in his ears

_Life's too short to even care at all, oh_

He was feeling a little better now than he had earlier, thanks to talking to Scott, not nearly as depressed or frustrated or anxious over the incident with Peter and his gang of killers

_I'm losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control_

Thinking back on it made him shudder still, and the thought that he had come so close to getting an innocent person killed was a clamp on his heart, pressing down and making him feel like he was choking, like his head was going to explode, like he was about to spiral....

_These fishes in the sea, they're staring at me, oh, oh oh oh, oh_

But he didn't, he couldn't, he just had to keep his mind off of that and think about Scott, think about adding a new coke to his collection, think about Derek...

_A wet world aches for a beat of a drum, oh_

Thinking about Derek, he found, was good for his soul, as it made his heart flutter, it made him feel lighter and even kind of... happier... as odd as that was

_If I could find a way to see this straight I'd run away_

Derek was quickly becoming a safe place for his mind to go to, thinking back over their interactions, over the last few days he had spent at the cafe' talking to him and how.... _amazing_ he felt just to be in the waiter's pressence

_To some fortune that I would have found by now_

And he was so _close_ to actually being able to do something about him- WITH him- now, now that he was almost done with Peter, now that he was almost done with this God awfull punishment, with this hellish life...

_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

He just had to get back now, back to the meeting room with the coffee and then he would be free....

_Come down_

He gasped suddenly as a door slammed right into him, nocking him backwards and, worse, spilling the coffee all over him

He screamed in pain, hissing at the burning sensation and quickly pulling a cool, blue glow to his hand, pressing it against his shirt to cool down the temperature

"Oh God, are you ok!? I'm so sorry!!"

_Life's too short to even care at all, oh_

He looked up, a strange sense of dread coming over him as his eyes locked with clear, crystal blue

_I'm coming up now, coming up now out of the blue, oh_

The woman in front of him was blonde, tall, in her late twenties or maybe early thirties, and dressed all in black with a low-cut shirt and a leather jacket, tight pants, long boots, she screamed of danger- and not because of what she was wearing, but the coy smirk on her face

_These zombies in the park, they're looking for my heart, oh, oh oh oh oh_

"Here, let me get that for you,"

_A dark world aches for a splash of the sun, oh_

He blinked, swallowing as the woman handed him the coke bottle, wich, although quite shaken, was still in tact- one good thing atleast....

_If I could find a way to see this straight, I'd run away_

"Ugh, I'm so sorry, I just ... didn't even see you there, or... you didn't see me open the door, but it doesn't really matter, here, let me buy you some more coffee,"

_To some fortune that I should have found by now_

He very slowly accepted the twenty dollar bill that she slipped into his hand, feeling... oddly dazed

Not because of the incident, not because he was shocked or struck off guard but... but because of the overwelmingly bad feeling he got from her....

It was suffocating, it was ... it was ... _**consuming**_

_And so I run away to the things they said could restore me_

"It's... it's really ok,"

_Restore life to the way it should be_

"No, no it isn't- _tch_... just look at you, you're SOAKED!! You can't walk around like that, you've gotta get cleaned up,"

_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

"You know, my place is JUST around the corner, less than two minutes from here, why don't you let me take you to get cleaned up hm? I mean you can't walk around covered in coffee, and I can lend you some of my brother's clothes, I'll even wash those, what do you say?"

He'd say she was coming on more than a little strong is what he'd say....

"That's ok, really, you don't need to do all of that,"

"Oh I _insist_ , it's no trouble,"

"No really, that's alright, I'm actually late for an important meeting and my brother lives LITERALLY right by the coffee place... it'd be easier to just go rinse off at his place so I'm not even more late,"

"Aww, are you sure? I really don't mind it," the blonde insisted

"Positive, thanks for the reimbursement," he replied shortly, immediately taking off back towards the coffee shop

_So I run now to the things they say should restore me_

He could feel the presence of the woman lingering behind him, his heart pounding with anxiety with each and every step

_Restore life to the way it should be_

It wasn't until he got back in the coffee shop and was able to peek out the window that she finally seemed to leave

_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

He had absolutely no idea who that woman was or what she wanted, but the vibe he got from her....

It wasn't a good vibe....

In fact, it was one of the darkest he had ever felt

_One more spoon of cough syrup now, woah-oh  
One more spoon of cough syrup now, woah-oh..._

 

~+~

 

"Stiles, nice to see you again, where did you have to get that coffee? Bermuda?" Peter asked with a disapproving frown

"There was a bit of an accident," Stiles huffed back, not that there was any proof now ofcourse, he had cleaned himself up in the bathroom (via magic) wile waiting on Scott to make the new cups of coffee

"Any bloodshed?"

"No," he bit, setting Peter's coffee in front of him, then Donnovan's, then Violet's, then-

He paused, staring in confusion at the empty seat where Garrett should have been

That was weird....

Peter didn't exactly issue bathroom breaks during his meetings....

"Just set it down," Peter said simply

Stiles swallowed, putting it in front of the chair as he instructed and moving towards the back of the room again

"As I was saying before, we should take a few days to gather ourselves, I'll contact all of you at the appropriate times, and until then, lay low,"

Stiles watched in mild frustration as Peter rose to his feet and gestured for him to follow- even though Stiles had _just_ gotten there and sat down

But whatever, he was getting out of here, he was DONE, this was all he had to do to be free and STAY free, so he could live with the mild annoyance

He followed Peter almost eagerly for once, stepping into the elevator with him and inhaling deeply through his nose

He was so close.....

He was so close now....

It felt as if the elevator ride had taken six years before finally opening up at the garage floor and allowing Stiles and Peter to step out

"Congratulations Stiles, you're all paid up, you are no longer in debt to me," the older man said as he walked Stiles to the car he would be driving home

"Thank God for small miracles," Stiles grumbled as Peter handed him the keys- as well as another 10K stack

"Oh! There's just.... one more thing I need you to do,"

Stiles gritted his teeth, eyes hard and glaring behind his sunglasses

"No.... no way, you promised we were done, you said this was it!"

"And I meant that promise, this is your last job and then you'll no longer be in debt, but... this job isn't QUITE over, see this car? I need you to smash it, make sure there's nothing left, when you're done, THEN the job will be over and you'll be free to carry on about your merry way," he explained, leaning just close enough to press down on the remote to unlock the car

Unfortunately, when he did that, the trunk popped open as well, revealing Garrett's dead body laying bloodied and broken in the confined space

"Oops," Peter smirked- though it was clear that little display hadn't been an accident- as he moved to shut the trunk and cross his arms over his chest

"You want me to destroy a body for you now? Seriously?!"

"It's part of the job description Stiles,"

"No... no it isn't! The 'job description' was driving- that's IT! That's all it is Peter, that's all it EVER was!"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Peter said coldly, taking a single step forward

"I'm sure your father will be sorry too, from his hospital bed, when he finds out he'll never walk again after I shatter his legs,"

Stiles felt sick, his eyes were burning with angry tears and he could taste the blood in his mouth leaking out of his bitten tongue as Peter placed the keys in his hand and closed his fist around them

"Oh and, stick around to make sure the job gets done ok? No need to test fate,"

Stiles simply stood there, staring forward as Peter walked past him, his heart sinking and his throat tight, and for once the music was just a dull throbbing in the back of his mind

 

~+~

 

Watching the car get crushed was.....

He didn't know how to describe the extreme sense of surreality and emptiness that he felt watching the metal bend and shape, crunch and fold...

Knowing that there was a body inside, a person, that someone was being slowly destroyed and would likely never be found....

His eyes stung, but he refused to shed the tears

It was too dangerous to let himself start crying, knowing that if he started he might never stop....

And all because of one stupid mistake he made when he was eighteen....

He took in a deep breath, clenching his fists and forcing his nails to dig into the skin of his palms, the pain was a good distraction, it kept him from getting too emotional, atleast...

That was what he told himself

_Carry on my wayward son_

He blinked back the tears, licking his lips and forcing himself to move forward, despite the heartache that was pounding in his chest

_For there'll be peace when you are done_

He had to move forward, he had found that it was the only way to do much of anything in life, move forward and never look back

_Lay your weary head to rest_

He winced as he heard the car crunching behind him, images flashing through his mind of what the carnage might look like as he felt a tear roll down his cheek- but he didn't stop moving

_Don't you cry no more_

 

~+~

 

When Derek opened the door, he felt his heart leap into his chest

He hadn't been expecting Stiles to be standing out there waiting for him- or...

He supposed Stiles hadn't been waiting so much as he had just reached for the handle and been caught off guard, but it was still a bit of a shock to see

"Oh... hey, I was actually just finishing my shift... but I can get you some coffee befor-"

"What are you doing tonight?" Stiles interrupted, wich.... took Derek by surprise, to put it mildly

"Um... I'm just running some errands,"

"Mind if I tag along?"

And the surprises just kept on coming

"I mean.... I don't mind but I don't think it'd be very fun, I'm just doing laundry and stuff,"

And Stiles, with more seriousness than Derek had thought could be possible for the following statement, replied with the following:

"I freaking love laundry,"

 

~+~

 

"Ofcourse our washing machine would break down a couple of days ago- and after we just moved back here last month-, and my sister is the only one who knows anything about appliances so we have to wait on her to pick out a new one on Saturday, until then it's left up to me,"

Stiles nodded slowly, legs swinging back and forth as he stared down at the man next to him from the perch on the washing machine he was sitting on

"Wish I could help but I know jack about appliances,"

"It's alright," Derek shrugged, tossing the last of his clothes into the machine

"So ... your sister huh? You guys live together I take it?"

Derek nodded slowly, popping open the tiny box of detergent to pour into the machine

"Yeah, myself and both of my sisters,"

"That's pretty cool, I live with my dad, no siblings unfortunately, did you move back to be closer to your parents?"

The sudden tension and silence that fell over the waiter was more than enough of an answer for Stiles, his shoulders sagging as he watched Derek shut the lid on the machine and turn it on

"Hunters?" he asked quietly

Derek's head jerked up, a panicked look on his face as he stared at the driver

"Relax dude, I'm a witch, and don't think for a second your fuzzy little secret escaped my attention until now," Stiles said with a slight smirk, wiggling his fingers a blue thread of electricity started sparking between them

Derek did seem to be a bit surprised by that information, but he also visibly relaxed, now that he apparently realized that Stiles wasn't a hunter- just another innocent supernatural creature like him

"I'm surprised you didn't smell the magic on me before,"

Derek shrugged, stepping away from the washer and towards one of the little miniature carts he had been using

"I sometimes have trouble with my nose, being around all that coffee all the time, I can smell distinct scents easily enough but small traces of things are hard to pick up when I've been around coffee all day, and magic is a faint scent to begin with,"

"Ahh... yeah I understand, my buddy Scott is a barista and he has the same problem, even worse since he's around NOTHING but coffee all day, I get it,"

"Exactly, coffee is one of those scents that's hard to get around and it has a tendency to stick with you for an hour or two after you leave it if you're around it as much as I am, my nose won't be back to perfect condition until we leave here probably,"

Stiles nodded slowly in consideration, rolling that around in his head

He knew it sounded cruel but he was glad that Derek hadn't been able to catch the more subtle scents on him in the past, he didn't want him knowing that Stiles smelled of gunpowder or blood or any people that he didn't want to smell like

Sure Stiles always took a shower before going to the diner, just in case, because the coffee scent was weaker there than it was in the actual coffee _shop_ and Scott had caught onto the smell of blood once upon a time, but werewolves had such keen noses that they could pick up on anything under the right circumstances

Like sharks that way...

"Well hopefully you won't have to deal with that for too long," he noted with a tilt of his head

"I won't, my sisters and I are looking to open a used bookstore, we're just waiting for the papperwork to go through, Laura thinks that it would be wise for us to stay under the radar by having part-time jobs until then,"

"Seriously? Have you guys ever tried that before?"

Derek gave a slight shrug, mostly seeming to be considering it

"Breifly, in New York, we were only there for a few months though,"

"And? Did it work?"

"'No.... but to be fair, the hunters in New York are much more... populated..... we spent most of the last seven years in Orlando trying to lay low, trying to raise my younger sister, take care of things like legal issues and chores, bringing up our pack-"

"Pack?"

"We have a pack-we did everything we could to stay away from most people but it only made us miserable, and we ended up getting found after a few years anyway, now Laura wants us to be.... extra involved, I guess, without seeming TOO involved, I don't know.... it.... it's complicated,"

"Believe me, I understand complicated," Stiles said with a slight snort

He understood complicated more than Derek would ever be aware of....

"SO! Used bookstore huh? That's really cool, any particular reason behind that?" Stiles asked curiously, jumping into the little mini clothes cart Derek was pushing and causing the werewolf to raise his eyebrows at the witch

"My family had a huge library before.... we wanted to honor that somehow, and Beacon Hills already has a library so...."

"Ooh, makes sense, that's pretty cool," Stiles agreed, grinning as Derek pushed the cart (with him inside it) towards one of the cheap, uncomfortable lines of chairs in the center row

"I suppose it is, what about you? Was driving some kind of longterm dream you've had or-?"

"Oh I... I don't do that anymore, not professionally anyway,"

Derek stopped pushing the cart for a moment, a melancholy look falling over his face

"Oh... I'm sorry...."

"No no, don't be, it was my choice, I quit," Stiles replied hurriedly, not wanting Derek to feel bad over something that was actually a very positive thing

"Oh, well then.... congratulations, you didn't seem too happy there,"

"Yeah, I wasn't," Stiles confirmed, reluctantly climbing out of the cart (because it was starting to get far too cramped for anything resembling comfort)

"So what's next then? I mean if you aren't driving anymore,"

"I'm gonna open an apothecary, potions, spells, herbs, all that stuff, I'm going to start it off online but hopefully expand to a brick and mortar place if I can find a good building,"

"My sister can probably help you with that, she's the one who found the place we're using for our bookstore, she's pretty good with real estate actually,"

"Oh really? You're gonna have to introduce me, is this Laura we're talking about?"

"Yeah, my older sister, my younger sister's name is Cora,"

"Wow, lots of songs about Laura, Tell Laura I Love Her, Laura Palmer, Think Of Laura, Goodnight Laura, Laura, Laura again..... and Cora has Darlin' Cora, pretty lucky,"

"Yeah, unlike my unlucky self, there aren't any songs with my name," he chuckled, moving to sit down in one of the chairs

"Now that actually isn't true," Stiles smirked back, sitting down behind Derek

"Oh yeah? Name one,"

"Derek's Song by The Coathangers, Derek by Bad Taste, and the one I personally enjoy- Derek's Theme by Of Montreal,"

He glanced over his shoulder at the skeptickal look on Derek's face, only to smirk and pull out another iPod from his jacket pocket

"How many of those do you have?"

"Mmm.... a few dozen, different iPods for different moods,"

"And you just happen to be in a ... sparkly pink mood today?" Derek smirked

Stiles glanced down at the bedazzled pink iPod case, smirking himself and plugging his earbuds into the audiojack before starting to scroll through the songs

"Yeah I did, is there a problem with that?"

"No, none at all," Derek hummed back, clearly surprised when Stiles handed him an earbud and clicked on the song

_I'm so excited, I just can't wait for you to come  
I've been living alone and lonely far too long  
When I see your face, and the love that's in your eyes  
You know I just can't place this feeling_

"It isn't an especially GOOD song," Derek said with a laugh

"No but believe it or not it's ten times better than the others," Stiles smirked

_All my sad days will soon be over_

"I wish you hadn't just told me that,"

"Hey! It's better than being stuck with MY name, there aren't ANY songs for Stiles,"

_And I'm happy when I'm with you_

"That's true, I don't imagine there are,"

"AND atleast you get your name on things like ... pencil cases and Coke bottles, God, do you know what I'd give to get my name on a Coke bottle? But nope- never gonna happen, much less have a song written about me,"

"You never know, uncommon names are becoming big hits, maybe a celebrity will name their baby after you someday and get a song written for you,"

"Oh sure, THAT'S comforting," Stiles snorted

"It's better than nothing," Derek shrugged back, looking over his shoulder at Stiles and leaning a little closer to him

"I guess you're right," Stiles hummed back, leaning a little closer himself

"You know, I can't help but noticing," Derek mused

"I'm pretty sure this song is almost over, but I haven't heard my name even ONCE,"

"Now I never said it had your name IN it, I said it was ABOUT you, and that the title is 'Derek's Theme'- wich it is,"

"Sure it is," Derek snickered, allowing his eyes to close as he allowed his and Stiles' lips to gently brush against eachother

_If I had to bet weather this works or not_

"Yeah," Stiles breathed, pressing a little harder, turning the light brush into an actual, real kiss

_I'm certain that it will,"_

"It sure is,"

_But still, I can't forget this feeling_

 

~+~

 

After that initial sorta-date with Derek, Stiles felt...

God he felt _free_ for the first time in years

He was finally able to actually live his life and work towards the goal he had had for years now- opening up his apothecary

He started ordering everything he needed in terms of inventory

He got a website set up

He ordered business cards

Everything was going kind of perfectly

And the best part was that things were going great with Derek, he had never met anyone he just.... clicked with like this

He had never thought it'd be possible to connect with anyone in this way, to find anyone who really, sincerely liked him for who he was- quirks and idiosyncrasies and all

He and Derek were like two missing peices to the same puzzle though, they just.... fit.... they fit PERFECTLY

They were seeing eachother practically every day now and for the first time in years Stiles was actually excited about getting up in the mornings

He had the best first date (well, first official date) planned for them too, he just hoped that it would go off without a hitch...

 

~+~

 

"Wow, so the papperwork is done then?"

"It's done, and I put in my notice, this is going to be my last week as a waiter,"

"So then we're celebrating huh? No more coffee nose!"

"Well, no more coffee nose as of next week," Derek corrected playfully

"Pft, semantics," Stiles insisted with a roll of his eyes

"Do you even know what that word means?" Derek teased

Stiles smirked, eyes sparkling mischeviously before answering

" _Semantics_ ," he challenged, stabbing his fork through a peice of steak and leaning back a bit, starting a new conversation topic before Derek could get a chance for rebuttal

"SO do you guys have any inventory yet?"

"Some, we ordered alot and we have... maybe half? A little less? It's all in a storage unit downtown for now, what we're mostly waiting on is shelves, we haven't gotten any of those in yet,"

"Hell.... but hey atleast the store is gutted right? You guys don't have to clean up anything do you?"

"No, thankfully, we are going to paint it though, Laura already quit her dayjob and Cora will be done Thursday so I'm the last hold-out, but it isn't so bad, we haven't announced an opening date yet so we can take our time,"

"Sounds like things are moving pretty fast, I'm glad to hear it,"

Derek shrugged, taking a bite of his food

"It's going alright, but what about the apothecary? How's progress on that?"

"Not much different than yesterday," Stiles smirked

"I'm waiting on more supplies to come in before I really start anything, but once I get enough stuff together I'm going to start on some projects and then open up the website, I'll start looking for a building after that,"

"Sounds like a good idea, when you do get ready start shopping around for buildings let me know, I'll hook you up with the real estate agent Laura used, she's pretty good,"

"I'll have to do that, and since we're back on the subject of your store-"

"We weren't-"

"- what kind of merchandise do you have so far?"

Stiles may be sincerely interested in Derek's upcoming business, but to be honest, there was something of an ulterior motive to his question (obviously)

"Books, mostly, but we're expecting to get in a handfull of other things, we plan to have a small DVD and music section, CDs and vinyls mostly, we won't have much because we don't want to be a music store or a multi-media store but we figured because people so often have used DVDs and CDs it couldn't hurt to have a small section for them, we won't be ordering any after opening day though, unless someone requests it,"

"That's cool, is that all you guys are selling?"

Derek paused, eyebrows raised as he paused his fork

"Isn't that _enough_?"

"Well yeah I just mean.... you know.... you could have a little section for comic books," he mused, staring pointedly at the other man

"I already had planned for that, actually, I count comic books as books," he explained with a shrug, taking a sip of his drink

"Oh ok cool, cool, well... you know, if you ever need help pricing those things based on rarity and value and-"

"Stiles, it's just going to be a basic used bookstore, not a collector's shop, I'm not charging 'value price' for rare things, we're going to keep it all at a minimum," Derek smirked

"Ok, I was just offering my services, but ok, are you going to have a standard price for all of them then?"

"I... actually haven't decided that yet, I know I will for CDs and DVDs but comic books I'm less sure about,"

"Dude, please, just let me price them for you, I swear I won't go by value price but I'm almost CERTAIN I know list better than you do," Stiles insisted, taking another bite of his steak

"Well..."

"Plus, I can help you with the memorabilia pretty well so there's also that,"

Derek paused again, narrowing his eyes

" _Memorabilia?_ "

"Yeah, you know, little collectables?"

Judging by the look on Derek's face, Stiles figured he'd better clear things up

"Just little things! Like bookmarks, magnets, trading cards, statues, collectable drinkware-"

"Stiles, we're not going to turn a _used bookstore_ into Second  & Charles," Derek snorted

"Not Second & Charles! Who said anything about Second & Charles!? I'm just suggesting one LITTLE tiny... floor-to-ceiling glass case,"

Derek laughed, shaking his head

"Isn't it enough that your so-called 'boyfreind privilege' allows you to pick through our inventory before it hits the floor? Are you really going to try to talk me into turning our quiet little bookstore into a dealer's room? I wouldn't even go outside of books at all if Laura hadn't talked me into it," Derek huffed playfully

"Hey! FIRST of all, boyfreind privilege is SO a thing so don't call it 'so-called' and use air quotes, second of all, a few shelving units is HARDLY a dealer's room, and third of all, can I just say how much it turns me on that you even know what a dealer's room is?"

Derek, unfortunately, didn't get the chance to retort, glancing up as a waiter suddenly approached them and interrupted their conversation

"My apologies for interrupting, but there's a phone call for a Mr. Stilinski up front,"

"What? Do you know who it is?" Stiles asked in confusion

No one knew he was here, how-?

"It's from the town sheriff,"

Stiles felt his heart drop into his stomach, eyes locking with Derek's breifly as he hurried to stumble out of his chair

"Sorry, I-"

"Go, I'll be here," Derek promised quickly

Stiles didn't need any more encouragement than that, hurrying out of the dining area and rushing towards the bar where the phone probably was

He was so worried that he hadn't even thought of how odd the situation was

His dad didn't know where he was, and even if he did, why not call Stiles' cell phone?

He didn't have those thoughts until he approached the bar and his eyes landed on who was surely there waiting on him

The moment he caught sight of Peter's lacky, he knew he had been had

 _"Tracy,"_ he bit with a growl

"Hello Stiles," she smirked back, hopping down from the barstool and making her way towards the door

"What do you want?"

Like he really needed to ask

"Come outside or your little boyfriend finds out your nasty secret,"

Stiles gritted his teeth, eyes narrowing, but he knew he couldn't do anything to resist the order

He knew what would happen if he did, so it'd be better to just go along with it and see what the hell Peter wanted, get it over with

He slipped out of the restaurant with her, irritation laced through his body as he walked towards the werewolf

"What is it?" he bit in annoyance, nose wrinkling the closer he stepped

"Stiles, so nice to see you again, you know, I think this is the first time I've ever seen you without those things in your ears," Peter mused with an all too amused smirk

"Just cut the crap and spill it," Stiles snapped

"My, so touchy, you must be eager to get back to your date,"

"Yeah, I am, so can we end this already?"

"Alright, alright, I just wanted to come by and let you know that I'll be needing to see you tommorrow at four,"

"Wait... what? I'm DONE Peter, remember? I QUIT! My debt to you is paid!"

"It is, and you did, but I've decided that that's... rather unacceptable,"

"You ... _decided_!?"

"Do you believe in luck Stiles?"

"What?" the driver asked quietly

"Luck, see... I happen to believe quite a great deal in luck, it was lucky that I survived the fire that took my family from me, it was lucky that you stole all that money from me when you were eighteen, and it seems to me that you've been very lucky with your work these last few years, in fact, all of the times you've driven for me, everything has gone off without a hitch, well, except for this last time, but you reach a certain level of stupid than even luck can't seem to help,"

"Get to the point," Stiles snarled

"Right, my POINT, my point is.... I happen to think that you're something of a good luck charm for me Stiles,"

"A .. good luck charm?"

"Yes, I believe that it's partly thanks to you that the last several years have been so ... well, is 'profitable' the right word when I'm not REALLY making money at this?"

"You're asking me for a grammar lesson?" Stiles seethed, clenching his fists so tightly that his fingernails drove into his palms

"It was rhetorical, but I digress, you, Stiles, are my good luck charm, I need you to remain my driver, now I know we had a deal, so I'm willing to not double, but TRIPLE your pay grade for coming back to me, surely you can do your little apothecary business on the side hm? And I must say you have surprisingly good taste in restaurants, but a homemade business won't sustain luxuries like these for long, with my support, however, you can keep these cute little dates of your's going without a blip on the radar,"

"You really think you can _buy me back_!? When has money ever been a motivator to me!?"

"Well, quite simply, you can either take my very generous offer.... or I can make good on that promise of mine to murder your father as painfully as I can manage, then your boyfreind, then that little barista you like so much- Scott? Was it?- and then break your legs so you'll have to attend their funerals from a chair, so.... what's it going to be?"

Stiles' lips trembled, his breathing stuttered, dread and anxiety and God-foresaken _agony_ consuming him as he came to realize how helpless he was

He had been _out_

He had gotten out of all of this but now Peter was standing there dragging him back in by the hair and-...

This was it

This was his life now

He would ... really never escape this

Peter was going to own him for the rest of his life and there was absolutely _nothing_ he could do about it

"I see you've made your decision," Peter mused simply, striding closer and handing Stiles a new burner phone

"I comped your dinner tonight, my gift to you, and I'll be calling in the morning to let you know when I need you, _pick up_ ,"

And just like that, Peter was back in his car, leaving Stiles alone in his misery

His chest was closing up, it was getting harder and harder to breathe, he could feel the tears stinging his eyes and his hands were starting to bleed from the pressure of his nails against his palms

He felt like he was going to throw up, his world was spinning out of orbit, and everything felt bleak....

He slowly reached into his pocket, his hands shaking as he pulled his iPod out, shakily putting his earbuds in his ears and turning it on

_Don't worry about a thing  
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright  
Singing don't worry about a thing  
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright_

A low, desperate sob broke out of him, arms wrapping around his stomach as he fell to his nees, trying to rein back the tears

_Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun  
Three little birds, pitch by my doorstep  
Singing sweet songs, of melodies pure and true  
Saying 'This is my message to you'_

He sucked in another breath, clutching his fists around his shirt, when suddenly he felt a hand land on his shoulder

He jumped, spinning around and swallowing tightly upon spotting Derek's face

Derek looked.... panicked and devastated and Stiles could see the question sitting on his tongue, even if he didn't quite know how to ask it

"I guess there's no way I can say 'I'm fine' at this point is there?" Stiles sniffed, because he didn't want to hear Derek ask

He didn't want to know how hurt Derek was, how worried he was, how much his night had been ruined

He figured he'd beat him to the punch and avoid it

"Not really no," Derek replied quietly

Stiles sniffed again, shaking his head slowly and licking his lips

"I have to drive again," he said after a moment

"What? But you quit-"

"It doesn't matter, I don't get a say,"

"What do you mean 'you don't get a say'? It's your JOB, ofcourse you get a say! I mean what are they going to do if you refuse? Kill you?"

Well that hit close to the belt

"It's..." he paused, rolling over everything in his head

Telling a partial truth and getting away with it had to be better than telling a bad lie and getting caught... right?

"I stole from the guy," he said quietly, sniffing again

"When I was eighteen my dad had a heart attack, he was... it was bad Derek, he was in the ICU for two days, in the hospital for a week, the expenses were outrageous and the insurance only paid for so much, we couldn't afford the hospital bills Derek, we would've lost our _house_ , I didn't have a job yet and a sheriff's salary isn't what I'd call _great_ , I... I didn't have a _choice_.... I ended up doing some cheap yard work for this rich guy- this ... obscenely, disgustingly rich guy, who didn't even NOTICE that I'd taken the money for over a week, what I stole was practically loose change to him, but... when I got caught, he said he needed a driver, he had seen my uh... skills... when I was trying to get away from him, he said I could pay off my debt with work and then he'd let me go, but now ... now he's decided that I'm his _good luck charm_ and isn't going to .... I'm trapped... I'm stuck Derek, if I don't do this then he'll turn me in and even if I used magic to get rid of what little evidence there is.... my dad would know.... price of my dad being the sheriff right? He'd _know_.... all this time I told him I won on a lottery ticket ... and that's how I paid the bills, I don't think he ever really believed me but he never dug deeper, probably didn't want to see proof that he raised such a freaking scumbag, if he tells my dad he'll _know_ and I could live with jail but I can't live with THAT, I can't live with that kind of disappointment Derek I CAN'T!"

"Calm down, calm down," Derek encouraged quietly, placing his hands on Stiles' shoulders and squeezing gently

"Stiles, listen to me, your dad won't find out ok? I swear it, he won't ever know, but you aren't a scumbag, doing what you have to do and working your tail off for years for an evil dictator in a job that makes you miserable to pay back debt for your father's hospital bills.... that does not make you a scumbag, do you understand me?"

"Derek-"

"I mean it! You did what you had to do to protect your family, that's not an evil thing,"

"It doesn't matter, it was still wrong, my dad will still ... he'll never look at me the same way again... I just can't do that Derek, I CAN'T, I'd rather just drive for the prick for the rest of my life than live with that,"

"Stiles, listen to me, I just want you to listen alright?" Derek said hurriedly, reaching out to give his hand a tight squeeze

"Let me help you,"

Stiles opened his mouth to speak again, but Derek interrupted

"I said I want you to listen, ok? Just.... let me help, give me one day, one day and I KNOW that I can make this right, _please_ Stiles, don't pick up the phone tommorrow.... _**please**_ , just give me until tommorrow night, make up an excuse for not being able to drive tommorrow, tell him you've got the stomach flu, SOMETHING, just..... just don't answer the call tommorrow ok? Do you trust me?"

"Yes," Stiles promised honestly, sniffing and throwing his arms around Derek's neck, trying to stiffle his cries into his boyfreind's shoulder

"I trust you,"

And he was telling the truth about that- he did trust Derek

It was Peter he didn't trust, and that was exactly why he was going to have to pick up the phone tommorrow

He trusted Derek to try his hardest, but he would never trust Peter not to pull something dirty again

So Stiles would answer the phone, just like he always did

He didn't have a choice anymore

_'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright_


	3. Jinx Songs

"Stiles, nice to see you again,"

Stiles, back in his usual sunglasses and earbuds, barely nodded in response to the werewolf, moving to sit down in the back as he always did

"Given that you've all worked together at one time or another, I don't see the need for introductions,"

Stiles inhaled deeply, eyes drifting across at the three people sitting at the front table

Kali, Theo, and Donnovan- _joy_

"Are there any questions before we start the breifing?"

"Yeah... I've got one," Donnovan smirked, leaning back in his chair and glancing towards Stiles before turning his attention to Peter once again

"What's the deal with Earbuds over there anyway? What's his defect?"

Honestly, Stiles was surprised it took as long as it did for him to go there

"He doesn't have a _defect_ you _idiot_ , he has tinnitus," Peter sneered

That was the one good thing about Peter, for all of his general evil ways, he did stick up for Stiles when it came to his disability

"You mean like... from splinters?" Donnovan asked in confusion

"Not _tetanus_ , _tinnitus_ \- a constant ringing in the ears, he had an accident when he was a little kid, now he has a permanent hum in the drum and uses music to drown it out,"

Donnovan was silent for a moment, getting up and walking silently towards the driver, reaching out and ripping one of the earbuds out of his ear

_I'm a sucker for pain  
I got the squad tatted on me from my neck to my ankles  
Pressure from the man got us all in rebellion  
We gonna go to war yeah without failure_

"Funny.... I didn't picture you as a rap guy," he taunted with a smirk

"I'm a music guy," Stiles corrected, reaching out for the earbud, only for Donnovan to nock it away from him

Stiles narrowed his eyes in frustration, reaching out for it again

He knew Donnovan was pretty much just going to do it again, so he was rather surprised when a hand shot out and took it instead- a hand that shot out _in front of_ the chimera

He looked up slowly, watching in surprise as Theo placed the earbud in his ear

"I love this song, Suicide Squad soundtrack right? That's one of my favorite movies,"

Stiles was tempted to say "That figures" but... to be fair, he loved Suicide Squad too.... so that probably wouldn't be the best comeback

"I'm curious about something Stiles," Theo mused, sitting down in the chair next to the driver

(And Stiles, distantly, regretted ever having a second chair at this table in the first place)

"What's your battle song? You know, your favorite song to play when you really need to get into the fighting spirit, when you need that extra boost to feel ... more determined?"

Well that was a weird question...

"Mine is probably... Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics,"

Stiles wanted to say "Good for you" but he knew that was probably just a quick way to make things worse, so he refrained- for now

"Bohemian Rhapsody," he replied after a moment

"Oh really? That's a good one, I love Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody is definitely one of my favorites,"

Stiles was quiet, not sure what to make of the sudden freindliness- not sure what Theo _wanted_

Because he had to want something, ok?

He wouldn't just be this nice randomly to Stiles if he didn't _want_ something

"If we're done with Happy Happy Sing-A-Long Hour.... can we focus now?" Peter interrupted, thus taking away Stiles' opportunity to find out more

Theo gave him a slight smile, taking the earbud out of his ear and returning it to the driver before reclaiming his seat next to Kali

" _Thank you_ , now... our next mission will be tommorrow, Saturday evening, we'll go over the details for it tommorrow afternoon, but for today, there's something else I'll be needing you all to do, you see the project tommorrow is fairly extensive, you'll be taking on one of the oldest hunting families in the country, so they'll be skilled and well secured, you're going to need more than just the average claws and teeth to get through them, you'll need-"

"Let me guess- weapons?" Donnovan huffed

"Yes, SOME weapons, but you'll also need equipment to dodge past the security systems- there are two- and unless you've developed some sort of chimera-related disarming mechanism, I feel that you won't be able to do much about it on your own,"

Honestly? Stiles wished he could have made Donnovan's face his new screensaver in that moment

The look of sheer hostility would fuel him for weeks to come

"As I was saying, there will be some equipment you'll need to get tonight, I have a few reliable sources who will be meeting you later to make the exchange, all you have to do is inspect the tools, give them the money I've alotted and pick up the purchases, it can't be too hard,"

Stiles just inhaled as Peter drabbled on, he was just the driver, he didn't need to know any of this garbage

So he turned up the music a little louder, letting his mind wander to something that didn't make him want to jump out of a window

Like Derek....

Ofcourse, thinking about Derek's pure, innocent soul wile he was sitting here ready to help murder people was probably an incredibly masochistic thing to do, but somehow, it felt like the only thing keeping Stiles afloat

_I'm just a sucker for pain_

 

~+~

 

"Do you ever take those things out of your ears?"

Stiles ran his tongue against his teeth, trying to distract himself from his growing irritation with the chimera, and if that meant creating a little pain, well... he'd had much worse

"Seriously Donati? Lay the hell off already, he's a good driver, that's all you need to know about,"

Stiles was... shocked at that

Not only because Theo had just defended him, but because for all intents and purposes, they shouldn't know eachother's last names

That was one of Peter's firmest rules, for safety purposes, no last names

Nicknames and codenames were encouraged too

Stiles could sort of understand Theo and Kali having that information on eachother, given that they were in a relationship...

But Theo and Donnovan?

Regardless, he tried to ignore it for now

He'd look into it later but if he showed signs of knowing more than he should _now_ of all times he might end up eating a bullet

"See now, that's where you've got it wrong," Donnovan mused as Stiles pulled up to the meeting spot, his blood running cold as he felt the barrel of a gun press against his skull

"He's gotta do more than just drive this time,"

"What the hell!?" Stiles shouted, a mix between angry and terrified

Not terrified for his life, not really, but terrified for his father...

If he died like this, the chances were that his father would either never find him... or worse, he would find out quickly and know right away what Stiles had been involved in over the last several years...

"You're going to come with us, think of yourself as _extra backup_ ,"

"I don't remember Peter approving of this," Theo hissed

"I don't remember asking what you thought," Donnovan snapped, baring his fangs at Theo

Theo and Kali both bared their fangs back, but it was an empty threat

"Oh don't get all hissy with me, I just want to see if the little brat is worth all the trouble,"

"That isn't for you to decide!" Theo growled

"Maybe not, but I'm the one with the gun, now... get out of the car, and don't make a scene,"

Stiles swallowed, inhaling deeply through his nose and sliding out of the car, relieved when he heard Donnovan's gun slide back into it's holster

If he wanted to, he could turn around right now and kill the little diphead, but...

But he had no idea how Peter would react to that- or even if Theo and Kali would tell him the truth about what had happened- and he couldn't risk his father's life that way...

Atleast he could stop the gun from firing if it came to that... provided he would have enough time to get the spell going that is....

"And one last thing Betohvan," Donnovan said with a conceded smirk

"Put on something rock and roll,"

Stiles swallowed tightly, scrolling down on his iPod and clicking on the first rock song he found

"I thought Peter was sending three and a driver," one of the men- a big bulky guy who looked like a Frankenstein's monster reject- grunted as they walked forward

"He did, the driver needed some fresh air," Donnovan replied with a smirk, patting Stiles on the back- well, more like _slamming_ him in the back

"What the hell is he listening to?" the stranger asked with a deep frown

"I don't know, let's see," Donnovan smirked back, taking an earbud out of Stiles' ear and putting it to his own

_I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb_

"Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb~" Donnovan snickered back, pushing the earbud back into Stiles' ear

The driver wrinkled his nose, nails digging into his palms as he inhaled, trying his absolute hardest to keep himself under control

The last thing he needed was to lose control now and risk getting his dad hurt....

If he could live with Peter ordering him around for the last five years, he could live with this numb nut for another five minutes

"Don't worry Ennis, Peter is a personal freind of mine, I'm sure he'll do right by us," replied a much smaller man next to the miniature Hulk- he was dressed in a leather coat and wearing sunglasses, huh...

"Now as I recall, you all have quite a shopping list needing to be filled, let's start with the security," the man in sunglasses smirked, reaching into a case at the end of the long table of weapons and equipment and presenting it to trio of killers- Stiles was actively trying not to pay attention

"These are fairly simple, a monkey could use them, one for indoor and one for outdoor, you press the button in the center of the orb and set them as close to the security system as you can, they work up to a mile away but it's always better to be closer than farther," he explained, holding up the metal spheres before setting them back in the case

"You have your basics ofcourse, guns, grenades, daggers... and then you have your specialty tools- silencers, a must-have for anyone going into hunter territory- sedation darts, also quite handy if you're looking to take the long way around the kills, we even have some of the hunters' very own electric batons,"

The man took one of the batons off of the table, flicking it on and cracking it against the air, sending a rush of anxiety through Stiles as he watched the electricity crackle and fizzle

Electricity wasn't good for anyone in the supernatural community outside of kitsune and some breeds of chimera, and even as a witch, Stiles had had enough experience with it to feel nervous just being in the presence of one of those batons

"Now, choose anything you want, I'll send the bill to Peter,"

Kali was the first one to grab anything, eagerly reaching for one of the batons and smirking wickedly as she admired it

Theo and Donnovan moved towards the equipment at the same time, with Theo picking up a box of sedation darts and Donnovan grabbing one of the submachine guns

"SIG-Sauer MPX Pistol, very nice choice," the man in the sunglasses noted

"Yeah... I'm liking the feel," Donnovan mused, turning the peice over a few times in his hands, seemingly inspecting every inch

"What about these darts?" Theo asked, drawing the attention of one of the other goons behind Ennis and the leather-wearing leader

"My favorite," grinned the aforementioned goon as he stepped forward to, assumingly, explain the darts to the other man

"And what about you, Mr. Runaway?"

Stiles blinked, looking up in surprise at the leathered leader

"You know, 'Cherry Bomb'? The Runaways?"

"I got the joke," Stiles replied flatly

"I don't do guns,"

"Well aren't we confident?" the leader smirked, taking a pistol from the table and handing it to Stiles

"No, really, I don't do guns," Stiles insisted

He wasn't even supposed to be here...

"Just take it, you don't want to get Deucalion on your bad side," Theo encouraged quietly, taking the pistol and shoving it in Stiles' hand

Deucalion? So Theo knew this guy's name too...?

"SO, what'll it be lady and gents?" Deucalion asked suddenly

Donnovan clicked his tongue, clicking the safety off of his gun and smirking

"I think..... all of it,"

Before anyone could react, the gun started to fire in rapid succession, easily wiping out two of the goons as Deucalion and his men started to duck for cover

_Cherry bomb!_

Stiles was nocked down on his stomach, almost crushing his iPod and ripping the earbuds out

The ringing in his ears was twice as intense with the sound of gunfire around him, and he scrambled to turn his iPod back on, even if that did mean essentially starting the song over

The drums and guns were louder than anything Stiles had ever heard, his heart racing as he watched Donnovan and Deucalion start to go to war with eachother

Theo and Kali seemed to be in on it, and all Stiles could do was scramble to get to his feet again

_Down the streets I'm the girl nextdoor_

He raced towards one of the pillars of the huge parking garage they were in, diving behind it as a shower of bullets cascaded from the guns around them

_I'm the fox you've been looking for_

He thought he'd be safe there for atleast a minute, but those thoughts were erased when the top of the pillar was blown to bits, forcing Stiles to run as far as he could from the falling debris

_Hello Daddy, hello Mom_

He could see the car just a few feet away from here, he could easily run towards it and race out of here, leave them all behind, tell Peter he thought they had all killed eachother...

_I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb_

But that wouldn't be right

Even if he could get away with it (wich he doubted) Stiles wasn't a coward and he wasn't going to cut out on things just because they'd gotten rough

_I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb_

He gritted his teeth, inhaling and summoning a ball of fire in his hands, pitching it forward to draw a line between Peter's goons and Deucalion's goons

This clearly shocked the three that were (kind of) on his side, given that he had not only never attacked anyone before, but never used magic in front of them before either

Unfortunately, he probably did more to harm than to help, given that Ennis had shifted and jumped on Donnovan now

Stiles watched in shock and horror as the two rolled on the floor, Ennis shredding his claws through Donnovan's shoulder as Donnovan shifted as well, the telltale rows of Wendigo teeth appearing in his mouth as he snarled, a hole of teeth somewhat resembling a lampris appearing in the chimera's hand as he slammed it down on Ennis' face, causing an agonized roar to rip from the werewolf's throat as Donnovan brought his claws down against the shifter's neck

_Hello Daddy, hello Mom_

Stiles cursed as he sprinted towards the table of weapons nearby, dodging bullets and using his magic to create a sheild around him as he ran

_I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb_

He slid under the table, heart racing as he watched another of Deucalion's men fall dead to the ground

_Hello world I'm your wild girl_

He slid half-way out from beneath the table, grabbing a dart gun and a box of sedation darts from the table and ducking under again

_I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb_

Stiles, generally, was not great at using his magic as a weapon, it had never been anything he had really practiced growing up, so his skills were somewhat limited

Even still, he had picked up a few tricks over the last few years out of necessity, he could probably defend himself with magic alone if he absolutely had to, but using these would be outrageously easier

Plus, he was hoping that if he simply sedated the the enemy, then the others wouldn't actually kill them

It was a longshot, but atleast it was an attempt...

_I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb_

He loaded up the gun, rolling out from underneath the table and firing darts as quickly as possible, successfully managing to shoot atleast two of Deucalion's men- wich was... well.... something anyway

_Hey street boy, want some style?_

"Stiles, get down!!"

_Your dead end dreams don't make you smile_

He ducked as ordered, looking up as Theo jumped onto the table and fired a stream of bullets at the enemy, enough to take down all of the remaining goons- .. well... _almost_ all of them

_I'll give you something to live for_

Stiles didn't get the chance to react, gasping as Theo- now in his half-shift-, grabbed him by the arm and tugged him onto the table

_Have you and grab you until you're sore_

"Grab what you can, we need to move!"

Stiles just nodded shakily, scooping up anything he could and watching out of the corner of his eye as Theo did the same

He gasped, ducking down when another bullet grazed past them and turning his attention towards Deucalion, wrinkling his nose as the magic formed on his fingertips, clenching his fist and stopping the gun from firing again

Unfortunately, once he had done that, Donnovan fired several shots his way, successfully nocking the other man to the ground

Stiles could feel his heart leap into his throat, anxious, nausea turning his stomach, a cold sweat pouring from his skin...

_Cherry bomb!_

"We have to go!"

He blinked, turning his attention back to Theo and scrambling after him as Kali- having run off to retreive the car at some point- swirved towards them

_Cherry bomb!_

He could feel the panic rising in his chest as he followed after the other men, watching Kali slide out of the driver's seat as he hurried to tumble in

"Go go go!" Theo screamed upon entering the car himself

_Cherry bomb!_

Stiles took off with Donnovan still struggling to close his door on the passenger's side

He watched in growing panic as Donnovan pulled the ring off of a grenade and tossed it into the cup holder of a car they passed by, forcing Stiles to step on the gas even harder as the grenade went off behind them

"Cherry bomb," the maniac beside him snickered

And Stiles...

Stiles felt ill

 

~+~

 

"Do you know how I know when a mission has gone right?"

Stiles knew the second he walked into the room that Peter was about to lecture them all within an inch of their lives

(Couldn't he just kill them?)

"I get a phone call from the people I set up the mission with and I hear the word 'bananas', you want to take a guess at what word I HAVEN'T heard tonight?"

"I have an idea of it," Theo grumbled

"Look, you oughtta be THANKING me, I looked at those weapons, they're government issued, do you know what that means?" Donnovan sneered

"It means those good freinds of your's were cops! I just HELPED you- I SAVED you! If it hadn't been for me we all would have been arrested by now,"

"You idiot!!! I knew they were cops- they were MY cops! They were on our side! I've been using those cops for years to get under the radar and now you've gone and ruined it!" Peter shouted

"Well how was I supposed to know it wasn't a sting!?"

"You trust me! You trust my process! You trust that I know what I'm doing and if you can't do that then you shouldn't work for me!"

"I am NOT off this job!" Donnovan shouted suddenly

"This one? No, it's too late for that, but I swear to and on everything you can imagine- if you even REMOTELY screw up tommorrow, you'll WISH I had killed you today,"

Donnovan huffed and grumbled, but he didn't seem to have anything to say otherwise

"Now... all of you go home and get some rest, I'll see you here tommorrow at four PM, not a second later, now I'm going to have to find some new cops..." he grumbled

New cops...?

Peter was going to be looking for new cops to ... what?

Hire?

Pay off?

Threaten?

He swallowed tightly, trying not to react, if he reacted Peter would know, and he would surely catch on to what Stiles was worrying about....

Everyone turned, silently starting to leave, only for Kali to hang back a moment and grin over her shoulder at Peter

"You know, killing those cops may not have been the right thing to do, but it _was_ bananas,"

"OUT!"

Stiles was happy to leave, the sooner he could get out of there the better...

He rushed to his car, heart thundering in his chest as he slid into the car and cranked the engine, hands shaking as he dragged his cell phone out, rushing to turn it on and punch the number to the cafe

He knew reasonably that Derek wasn't home yet, he just hoped calling the cafe' would be the right move...

_"Boyd's,"_

"Can I speak to Derek please?" He asked urgently

He could hear the other man sigh quietly on the other end of the phone, before _"Derek, your boyfreind's on the phone,"_

_Thank God...._

Thank God thank God thank God....

_"Stiles?"_

"I need you to meet me tonight,"

_"O...k...? Where-"_

"Anywhere, somewhere private,"

_"Stiles... what's going on? What's wrong?"_

"I just... I really need to talk to you ok? Can you meet me? Now?"

_"Yeah.... yeah I know the perfect place, hang on, let me get the address,"_

Stiles nodded shakily, leaning back in his seat and squeezing his eyes shut, listening to the address Derek was giving him over the phone

He was listening, but in the background, he could hear the music playing on the radio

_I'm gonna fight 'em all  
A seven nation army couldn't hold me back_

His hands tightened around the weel as he said a quiet goodbye to Derek, peeling out of the parking garage and tightening his jaw

_They're gonna rip it off  
Taking their time right behind my back_

He knew what he was going to have to do...

_And I'm talking to myself at night  
Because I can't forget..._

 

~+~

 

"So this is going to be your store huh? It's nice, I like it,"

The building Derek had given him the address to was very homey, it wasn't huge by any means but it wasn't too small either, it was... well, nice, as he had said earlier

"Thanks, though I have a feeling you didn't come here to talk about my new business,"

Stiles hung his head, eyes downcast as he chewed on his lip and started to fidget with his sleeves

"You're right, I didn't, I... Derek..."

"Wait, before you say anything else, I need to show you something,"

"No, Derek, I need to-"

"Please, I think it'll help with whatever is going on,"

He highly doubted that, but he couldn't say no to Derek- especially after urging him to come out here in the middle of the night...

So he sighed, giving a small nod and watching in curiosity as Derek ducked behind the counter- one of the only peices of furniture in the store so far- and pulled out a large duffle bag, setting it down on the counter

"Um... what is that?"

"Open it," Derek insisted quietly

Stiles was hesitant, but he walked slowly towards the bag, sliding the zipper across and feeling his heart drop down into his stomach, his blood was cold, his breath was caught, everything was....

"What... the hell is this?"

"It's a million dollars," Derek replied, crossing his arms over his chest

"No amount of interest could have collected over this, and if it did then we'll double it, you're a good driver Stiles but you aren't THAT good, no greedy slug would ever pass up that much money for one person, no matter how good you are,"

"Derek.... you can't do this," Stiles breathed

He was shocked that Derek would even TRY

It wasn't like they had been a couple for THAT long and even if they had been the idea that Derek was about to pay _a million dollars_ to fix a problem that Stiles created for himself- one that Derek didn't even have any real PROOF existed- ... it just made him want to cry

"Derek," he said quietly, inhaling deeply and pinching his eyes, trying to keep the tears away, despite how badly he wanted to just.... start bawling with emotion

"Derek you can't do this,"

"I want to Stiles-"

"I know, I know but you can't, it won't help,"

"Stiles-"

"He doesn't want money," he blurted out

And God.... he wished he could take it back just to remove the look on Derek's face....

"He isn't... threatening me with turning me in, he's threatening my dad's LIFE, and YOUR life, and my freind SCOTT'S life, he's an evil bag of dicks on legs and he wants to use me to help kill people,"

For a moment, everything was quiet, and then, wordlessly, Derek sat down on the counter, raising an eyebrow

"Well? Go ahead,"

Stiles.... definitely hadn't been expecting that....

But he obeyed, looking down the entire time as he started explaining the story- from the beginning- about his father and the hospital bills- that part had been true- about the threats, the jobs, the driving... and about that night too

"Our next job is tommorrow, a hunter family, I don't know the details yet but... I don't want to do it Derek, I don't want to keep doing this, those cops were important to my boss and when they got killed he said he'd have to find new ones, my DAD is a cop Derek, my dad is the SHERIFF, this guy isn't stupid! He'll use my dad and use us both against eachother the SECOND he figures out how best to get to him without drawing suspicion, I can't lose my dad Derek, I CAN'T!!"

"And you won't," the werewolf said simply

"Stiles, BREATHE, I'm going to help you ok?"

"How?" Stiles asked quietly

"By stopping this guy and putting an end to the organization once and for all, but first we have to stop the mission tommorrow,"

Stiles inhaled shakily, giving a slow nod and rubbing his eyes

"Ok, what do you need me to do?"

"First, we're going to need a few things- coffee, a white board, some markers-"

"Some yarn?" Stiles perked

Derek raised his eyebrows, but didn't seem alarmed or anything

"Ok, yarn, and.... put something good on your iPod,"

Stiles grinned, his eyes lighting up as he scrolled through his options and clicked on the first one that looked appropriate

_Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?_

"You're really going to do this for me? Put yourself at risk like this?" Stiles asked almost skeptickally

_Why don't you ask him if he's going away?_

"I've risked more for less," Derek shrugged back casually, taking Stiles' hand and pulling him closer, thumb rubbing against the inside of his wrist

_Why don't you tell me what's going on?_

"Besides, if I lost you, who else would I talk music with?"

_Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?_

Stiles grinned widely, wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and giving him a long, excited, and relieved kiss

_Why don't you ask him what's going on?_

"You gonna be the Lindsey to my Stevie?"

_Why don't you ask him who's the latest on his throne?_

"Let's hope it ends a little better than that," Derek replied with a laugh

_Don't say that you love me_

Stiles' eyes went soft, his heart beating with renewed determination as he leaned back and took Derek's hand, squeezing it tightly, he didn't know what made Derek so crazy that he was actually going through with this, but God did Stiles love him for it

_Just tell me that you want me_

"If we live through this, I'll make sure of it,"

_Tusk!_

"Now... let's get started,"

_Tusk!_

 

~+~

 

Stiles shifted slightly in bed, his eyes opening as he nuzzled gently into Derek's shoulder

The werewolf was still sound asleep....

He inhaled deeply, shifting again and grabbing his iPod from the nightstand, sliding his earbuds in and turning it on

_Boy's workin' on empty_

He very carefully slid out of Derek's arms, trying not to chuckle at the way the werewolf groaned and grabbed for him, gently running his fingers through Derek's hair and tucking a pillow in his arms instead

_Is that the kinda way to face the burning heat?_

"Just going to the bathroom," he promised, unsure if Derek could hear him or not as he carefully padded away from the bed, not wanting to risk waking him any further

_I just think about my baby, I'm so full of love I can barely eat_

He had never felt anything even half as amazing as he had felt when he and Derek had gotten home and made love for the first time, he wished that he could just stay in bed with him forever and do nothing but lay with eachother, but he knew that wasn't possible, he had to do something before Derek woke up and they started to put their plan into action

He tip-toed over to his desk, taking his laptop as quietly as he could before slipping out of the room, shutting the door silently and sliding down against the wall

Something Peter had said a couple of days ago was still bothering him, he had said that a fire took his family from him, that was the first time Stiles recalled ever hearing any personal information from Peter at all, even an ounce of it

Wich meant either he had let it slip, or intended for Stiles to look into it....

Either way, he was going to see if he could find anything about the fire, maybe he could find some information on Peter that he could use

Staring at the open "Google" screen in front of him, he decided to just go with the most blunt thing and see what happened

_"peter fire beacon hills family dead"_

Sure, it was possible that the fire hadn't taken place in Beacon Hills but it was a place to start anyway

Luckily his hunch had been right, and it only took a little bit of scrolling to find the article he needed

_**Fire Leaves Eight Dead; Orphans Children** _

His eyes skimmed over the article, not sure how much time he had until Derek woke up and wanting to make sure he even had the right person, when his eyes caught on a word

_Hale_

Wasn't that Derek's last name...?

He swallowed tightly, skimming down a little bit lower

_"...only survivor, Peter Hale, is currently in the ICU, suffering from severe burns and smoke inhalation-"_

His eyes scanned down to the next paragraph, and that's where he felt his heart sink into his stomach

_"-children, Laura (21), Derek (17), and Cora (12), who were at a highschool basketball game at the time of the fire-"_

Laura, Derek, and Cora....?

_"Laura thinks that it would be wise for us to stay under the radar-"_

_"-my younger sister's name is Cora,"_

Laura, Derek, and Cora....

_"Hunters?"_

Derek only talked about his sisters, obviously he and his uncle didn't get along, was this why?

Did Derek know?

Well, he probably didn't know that Stiles worked for Peter, Stiles had never used Peter's name, but... did he know the business Peter was in?

Was that why they weren't in touch?

But more disturbingly, Stiles realized, was the fact that Peter knew about Derek

_"-or I can make good on that promise of mine to murder your father as painfully as I can manage, then your boyfreind-"_

He knew that Derek was Stiles' boyfriend and threatened him anyway

All of a sudden Stiles felt a renewed sense of anger, his blood practically boiling with rage over the thought that that... **_scumbag_** would threaten his own nephew that way

That he would use Derek

Hell that he was even RELATED to Derek made Stiles queasy to think about!

Apparently his distress was heard by his lover, as the door opened a moment later and a very sleepy looking Derek appeared in the doorway, the soft grey of the near-morning light illuminating behind him as the sleepy werewolf rubbed at his eyes, his hair mussed and skewed and the blanket around his waist barely hanging on

"Stiles?" he mumbled tiredly

God...

If he had had any doubts about killing Peter before, they were gone now

"I'm coming ok? I'll be there in just a second, I promise,"

Derek, clearly still mostly asleep, gave a jerky nod and shuffled back to bed

Stiles' heart clenched as he leaned back, staring down at the pictures on his computer screen of the burnt out house and the flames that had once surrounded it, knowing what that fire had done to Derek's family, knowing that the culprits had never been caught and that now, one of Derek's few remaining family members was actually threatening to kill him...

Everything hurt, and he drowned himself in the music to keep from breaking down

_I'll crawl home to her_

 

~+~

 

_Please allow me to introduce myself_

"Ah Stiles, right on time,"

_I'm a man of wealth and taste_

Stiles just gave a curt nod towards Peter, heading towards his usual place in the back of the room, adjusting his iPod and leaning back in his chair

_I've been around for a long, long year_

"Now that everyone is here, it's about time we get started with these plans hm?"

_Stole many a man's soul to waste_

"The people we're going after are very renowned in our world, they go by the name of _Argent_ ,"

That grabbed Stiles' attention, forcing him to sit up a bit straighter, his heart to beat a little louder, and a distinct air of panic prickling under his skin

"Argent?" he echoed

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Peter asked with raised eyebrows, his expression practically begging Stiles to say "Yes"

"Not at all," Stiles replied simply

"As a matter of fact, I'm glad for it, I know about the Argents, they're not good people,"

Stiles had never seen a more smug look on Peter's face as he walked to his chalkboard and started speaking again

"Good, then let's get started,"

_But what's puzzling you, is the nature of my game_

The instructions were given out clearly and concisely as they always were, but Stiles wasn't paying attention, he was too busy concentrating on how he was going to play out his own plans

And the minute Peter stopped talking and everyone started to disperse, Stiles was on his feet, making his way over to the werewolf as he grabbed a bag to put the weapons and equipment in

Stiles was just lucky that Peter was cautious enough to always clean and double check equipment before using it....

"Hey, I want to talk to you about something,"

The werewolf glanced up, eyebrows raising curiously as Stiles walked towards him, turning his attention away from the gun he had been about to pack

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"I wanted to tell you that.... I've decided to embrace being your driver,"

That actually made Peter pause, staring at Stiles in surprise as he crossed his arms over his chest

"You have?" he asked skepitckally

"Yeah, I looked into what happened to your family last night, I'm guessing you wanted me to when you mentioned the fire, I ... can't put into words how horrible it is, what you went through," he said honestly, his fingers drifting out to skim over the weapons on the table in a nervous fidget

"I mean, I've always known how hunters can be but I guess.... stories can only impact someone so much, but actually seeing what they did to you..."

"It's different," Peter confirmed

"Yeah it is, and it ... changes my perspective, hunters don't deserve mercy, they just don't,"

Peter smirked proudly at that, leaning back on his heels

"I'm happy to hear it, but I get the feeling you wanted more from this conversation than to simply tell me about your new revelation,"

Stiles nodded slowly, leaning against the table a little as his fingers started drifting along another row of guns, his eyes flicking up to lock onto Peter's in an almost challenging look

"There's one thing I don't understand yet, you know that Derek is my boyfreind, when you threatened him a few days ago... was that just for show? Or would you really kill your nephew just to spite me?"

"Just to spite you? No, Stiles, I wouldn't kill any of my neices or nephews just out of _spite_ , my threat from the other day was just for show, yes, but I have no relation to your father or your little freind,"

"I know, and I also know you worded that very carefully, is there a circumstance you _would_ kill Derek under?"

Peter looked almost... uncomfortable by the question, not in an overt way, but the way he was smirking felt... unsure, like he didn't know how to answer

It was a new look on him

"I love my neices and nephew, but if any of them ever got in my way of doing what needs to be done, I can't promise I wouldn't remove them from the equation,"

Stiles wasn't exactly happy with that answer, but it was better than another lie

"If we're done with this conversation? We really must be going," Peter said abruptly, reaching out for one of the guns Stiles had been touching

"Right," Stiles replied quickly, clearing his throat and backing away from the table

It was fine, he had what he needed anyway

He made his way towards Theo as quickly as he could, glad that he could catch the other man before he had made it to the elevator

"Theo! Hey, wait a second!"

The werewolf paused, turning towards Stiles and raising his eyebrows

"I just... I just wanted to thank you for always sticking up for me, that's all, I don't... exactly have alot of freinds so I appreciate it,"

Theo's eyes softened and he took a step closer to the witch, looking... oddly gentle, if that was even possible for Theo

"Well I appreciate you saying so, we supernaturals have to stick together, and I _despise_ people who put others down just for being a little different, despite how powerfull or talented they are, and you, my freind, are one talented man,"

"Thanks, really," Stiles said quietly, leaning up to give Theo a tight hug

The werewolf seemed to be taken off guard by that, but appreciated it regardless, leaning down to return the hug just as affectionately

Stiles lingered, his fingers wandering across his back for virtually as long as Theo would allow, before the other man gave his shoulder a squeeze and parted, a look of.... weirdly sincere affection on his face

"Don't worry, I've got your back,"

Stiles shouldn't feel as weird about that statement as he did, watching Theo walk away, but there was something nagging at him

Something that made him feel more anxious than usual

He ignored it though, he didn't have a choice, and turned up the music, starting out for the car

_Have some sympathy and some taste_

 

~+~

 

"Alright, are you guys ready?"

"Oh believe me, we're ready," Theo smirked, shoving a new magazine into his gun

"Let's get this show on the road," Kali smirked back, shoving a dagger into the sleeve on her hip

Stiles heard Donnovan click the safety off of his gun.... and felt the barrel press against his head...

"Donn-"

"You made me miss the shot, didn't you?"

Stiles swallowed tightly, his heart rabbiting in his chest as his hands tightened around the steering weel

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Don't give me that, a week ago, when that idiot in a truck was following us, you made me miss the shot... didn't you?"

Stiles glared at him, reaching out slowly and putting his hand on the barrel of the gun, lowering it as carefully as he could and not breaking eye contact with the chimera

"I didn't make you miss anything, maybe you're just a crappy shot," he frowned

Donnovan sneered at that, gritting his teeth, but Stiles continued

"I suggest you hurry up and get going before the dinner guests arrive, you don't want to miss your opening to sneak in,"

"This isn't over," Donnovan growled, shoving his gun against Stiles' chest just because he could and slipping out of the car, slamming the door behind him

"Don't pay any attention to him," Theo said with a roll of his eyes, opening his car door and stepping out as well

"Trust me, I won't," Stiles assured, watching Kali get out of the car as well and waiting a few minutes- a few dreadfully long, anxiety inducing minutes- for them to pull the bags of equipment they needed out of the car, shut the trunk, and head off to the Argent house

The moment they were far enough away, Stiles popped an earbud out of his ear and started dialing his phone

_Starry nights and sunny days_

He put the phone up to his ear, fingers tapping on the console as he waited for the pick up

_I always thought that love should be that way_

Luckily, it didn't take very long

_"I'm here,"_

"Hey Derek, there's going to be a slight change of plans,"

_"What do you need?"_

"I need you to divert a car,"

_"Do I get any details other than that?"_

"I'll text them to you, I'll send the car model and the address, make sure when you see that car that you keep it away from the target house, alright?"

_"Alright, are you sure you'll be ok with the change of plans?"_

"Yeah, I'm sure," Stiles promised with a small smile

"I'll see you soon Derek,"

_"See you soon,"_

He hung up, hurrying to text Derek the information he needed before taking a deep breath as he stepped out of the car and put his earbud back in, heading for the trunk

_I think a little emotion goes a long way_

He grabbed his dart gun, swallowing and biting down on his tongue before reaching in, grabbing a few things for insurance, shutting the door and starting towards the Argent household

_Be carefull now, don't get caught in your dreams_

He stepped quickly up the porch, trying to keep himself calm as he very carefully opened the door

_Look out baby, this is not what it seems_

"What the hell?! Why aren't the guns working!?"

"I'm telling you, it was that little driver of your's, he did something to our weapons!"

"Stiles? He wouldn't screw with us, he's too afraid for his father to mess with us, look, if the weapons don't work then we're just going to have to use our natural gifts,"

To be fair, Theo was almost right- Stiles WAS too afraid for his father... too afraid to let this go on, but he couldn't think about all of that now, all that mattered in this moment was putting these three to sleep and hauling them off before the Argents even knew they were there

_We got a wam_

Just as the trio noticed him, Stiles shot a dart into Donnovan's leg

_Bam_

Then one into Kali's shoulder

_Shang-a-lang_

"Stiles...?" Theo managed to ask, before a dart hit him square in the chest

_And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing_

He was surprised that the Argents hadn't heard all of the commotion, but he was glad for it

It meant he would be able to get these three out of here and back to Peter, then he didn't care, so he took a step towards the bodies on the floor ... and felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of his head

"Hey there Stiles, I was wondering when I'd see you again,"

He swallowed tightly, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he slowly held his hands up, apparently the Argents had just been waiting for the right opportunity.... he had been duped, and hearing the woman behind him start to chuckle wasn't exactly helping his ego

"Good, I didn't even have to tell you what to do, now... we're going to walk to the basement, I've never experimented on a witch before,"

He heard a doorbell ring behind him, shoes clicking as someone else crossed across the hardwood of the hallway, an idea suddenly springing to mind

"Wait! Don't you want to know why I betrayed my people!? I was helping you!"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to explain it all in the basement,"

"Allison wait!"

_Bye bye baby, I'd really like to stay_

As he had hoped, this took the woman off guard, she turned her head, and presented Stiles with the perfect chance to act

_But we'll remember the best time in our life_

He grabbed the gun with one hand, successfully jamming it with his magic just like he had with all of the others

_We had a wam_

He shot the woman- now recognizing her as the blonde who had stopped him on the street last week- in the foot with his dart gun

_Bam_

He ducked under the storm of bullets flying from the direction of the door, shooting a dart into the red-haired woman's leg

_Shang-a-lang_

The brunette behind her seemed to be unarmed, but he aimed a dart at her hip just in case and pulled the trigger

_And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing_

The darts were filled with a highly concentrated mixture of Wolfsbane, Reserpine, and Yew extract for Donnovan- all blended by Stiles himself, and wile none of that was quite enough to put the human hunters to sleep, it would succeed easily in making them drowsy and woozy, and they would have to find antidotes for the Wolfsbane and Yew at the very least, lest they be poisoned by it

_Wam_

He hurried out of the hallway, heart pounding as he heard gunshots behind him

_Bam_

The hunters clearly weren't asleep, but if their horrible aim was any indication, the poison had to be working

_Shang-a-lang_

He rushed into the kitchen, looking for an exit door and hearing the sound of a gun click behind him, hurrying to grab the little sprayer hose from the sink and spin on his heel

_And a sha-la-la-la-la thing_

"Allison?"

The girl blinked, eyes going slightly wide and teeth gritting

"Who are you?"

"Stiles! I'm Stiles! Scott has told you about me right? 'Cause God knows he's talked alot about you, your dimples make you very easy to identify,"

This seemed to take her by surprise enough to relax her grip, lowering her gun just slightly

"Stiles...? YOU'RE Stiles?"

"Yeah I know I sound alot prettier from stories right? Listen, I'm not here to hurt you, I was coming after those idiots that broke in,"

"Why-"

"I REALLY don't have time to explain, just promise me not to get involved ok? Please? Trust me.... or atleast trust Scott,"

Allison was quiet for a few moments before slowly lowering her gun, taking a step closer

"Stiles... don't go in the basement,"

"Yeah I kinda figured that, thanks, I owe you a cake or something,"

With the sound of gunshots behind him, he gave Allison an anxious look as she pointed to a second doorway in the kitchen

"Go- upstairs, there's a window in my bedroom with a tree right next to it, you can use that to get out,"

"I love you already," Stiles smiled anxiously, hurrying to rush out of the kitchen

As he ran, he took note of the fact that the song on his iPod had ended, switching to the next one on the playlist

_I am flesh and I am bone  
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter and gold  
I've got fire in my soul  
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter_

He raced up the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest as he rounded the corner, Allison's room was in sight

Atleast... he thought it was Allison's room, it had to be right?

He could see the window in the back of the room, ofcourse that didn't mean it was her's but hell, at this point any window would do

_Do you walk in the valley of kings?_

He made it to the center of the room before he heard the sound of a gun cocking

_Do you walk in the shadow of men who sold their lives to a dream?_

When Stiles turned, he came face to face with ... an old man, puzzling enough, a balding, old man holding a gun with a strange sense of relaxation to him, staring almost... boredly at the witch

_Do you ponder the manner of things?_

"Did you really think that it would be that easy?"

_In the dark_

"You know, for a minute there, yeah, I kinda did," Stiles replied with a frown, slowly aiming his dart gun at the old man

This wouldn't be too hard atleast, the guy was just going to try to shoot him, Stiles could jam the gun easily from this distance though- no problem

_I am flesh and I am bone_

"You know... you aren't the first witch I've dealt with before, and I know all of your little tricks, so let me tell you how this is going to work, I point my gun at you, you jam it telekenitcally, I pull the trigger, nothing happens, you shoot me and get away... atleast, that's how you'd LIKE it to happen, but I've learned better at this point, I know better than to bring a gun to a witch fight," the old man said

_Arise, ting ting, like glitter and gold_

And before Stiles was able to even react, the hunter dropped his gun, a dagger sliding out of his sleeve as he tossed it at Stiles and hit him in the shoulder

_I've got fire in my soul_

Stiles shouted in agony, dropping his dart gun as he turned a terrified face towards the hunter, the man reaching into his pocket and pulling out a mini pistol

_Rise up, ting ting, like glitter_

Stiles ducked easily under the first shot, one hand rising up and clenching his fist, disabling the gun as he let out a strangled cry of pain, the blade only digging in deeper into his shoulder

_Like glitter and gold_

He heard the hunter chuckle and knew he had to act fast, a bead of sweat running down his temple as he yanked the dagger out by force, screaming in utter agony

_Like glitter_

He didn't have the time to get up or move away as he stared up at a .. a freaking SWORD of all things pointed at his throat

_Do you walk in the meadow of spring?_

"What the hell is this, Kill Bill!?" he shouted

_Do you talk to the animals?_

"It's an old family heirloom, used for exterminating vermin,"

_Do you hold their lives from a string?_

Stiles knew he didn't have time for a comeback, he had to act _right **now**_ if he was going to get out of this

_Do you ponder the manner of things?_

The old man raised the sword, presumably to chop Stiles' head off or something equally as dramatic, and unintentionally gave Stiles the opening he needed

_In the dark_

He slammed his foot forward, kicking the old man right in the groin and, predictably, nocking him off balance

_The dark, the dark, the dark_

It wasn't enough to disarm him, but he stumbled back and gave Stiles the chance to rise up to his feet at the very least- and that was all Stiles needed

_I am flesh and I am bone_

He gritted his teeth, putting his pain aside and ducking as the old man brought the sword down towards him

_Arise, ting ting, like glitter and gold_

The guy's center of gravity was off now, wich was more of an advantage than one would usually think

_I've got fire in my soul_

The sword came towards him again and Stiles dropped to the floor, rolling towards the bed and yanking the comforter off of it, holding it up like a sheild as the sword peirced through it- he'd have to get Allison a new one...

_Rise up, ting ting, like glitter_

Though... this was giving him an idea, a wicked, horrible idea, but one that would grant him the ability to actually get out of here

_I am flesh and I am bone_

He just needed the right timing and he should be able to do this... he hoped....

_Arise, ting ting, like glitter and gold_

The minute the sword was gone Stiles jumped to his feet again, hands raised as he used his magic to bring the comforter with him

_I've got fire in my soul_

"Are you going to use that as a sheild?" the hunter scoffed

_Rise up, ting ting, like glitter_

"No," Stiles huffed, "I'm going to use it as a weapon,"

_'Cause everybody in the back room's spinning up_

Before the hunter could even ask what that meant, Stiles forced the comforter forward, the fabric clinging and wrapping around the human like it was an entity all it's own

_You don't remember what you're asking for_

Sweat was pouring from Stiles' body now, licking across his bottom teeth as he started to clench his fists, the comforter constricting around the hunter more and more the tighter Stiles squeezed

_And everybody in the front room's tripping out_

He could hear the man losing his breath, starting to suffocate within the confines of the fabric as it constricted around him

_You left your bottle at the door_

Stiles didn't want to do this- he didn't want to kill anyone, everything he had done up until now had been to avoid killing anyone but.... but....

_'Cause everybody in the backroom's spinning up_

What choice did he have?

_You don't remember what you're asking for_

What other option was there?!

_And everybody in the front room's tripping out_

If he left him alive then he would no doubt just find a way to stop Stiles from leaving, and Stiles HAD to get away, he HAD to leave because if he didn't.... if he didn't then all of this would be for nothing and Peter would kill his dad and he _couldn't_ let that happen!

_You left your bottle at the door_

The man stopped moving, after a moment, and the second Stiles released the magic hold he had on the comforter, the hunter's body fell backwards

_I am flesh and I am bone_

He wasn't moving.... he wasn't moving.... and Stiles knew he was done

_Arise, ting ting, like glitter and gold_

Stiles let out a choked sob, greif and guilt climbing up through his throat as his body began to shake, stroking his fingers nervously through his hair and biting down on an anguished cry

_I've got fire in my soul_

But he couldn't do this now.... not now

_Rise up, ting ting, like glitter_

He could deal with this later, right now... he had to go save his dad

So he opened the bedroom window, staring outside and cursing under his breath

There was a tree alright, but there were no branches anywhere NEAR the ground

He was going to have to jump from the lowest branch into the pool below... great...

So he took his earbuds out, wincing at the ringing that accompanied that, and grabbed a scarf that had been hanging off the back of the chair by the vanity, wrapping it around his nose and mouth, putting his iPod and earbuds between his cheek and the scarf, and exhaling into it, using his magic to make a suction around his face and inflate the scarf like a balloon, giving himself something of an air mask to breathe with

(And to keep his iPod dry)

He took a breath, climbing out of the window and easily onto the branch outside

This wasn't so bad so far... but he knew it was only about to get worse

He had only managed to get down another two branches before he realized that he had to jump, he wasn't sure if the lower branches had suffered some unfortunate accident where they had to be sawed off, or if it had just been Allison's parents trying to keep her inside, but he could see atleast one spot where a slight stump had been growing...

He sighed quietly into the scarf, swallowing as he slowly made his way to the end of the branch, staring down at the pool with ambivalence

Well.... it was now or never

With one last breath he jumped down, hitting hard against the water and gasping into his scarf as he sunk towards the bottom of the pool

He struggled and strained against the water, trying his hardest to make his way to the surface, even though breathing wasn't an immediate concern

His skin stung from where the water had slapped into him and his ears were full of water, he wished he had been able to cover his ears with this thing too but if he had done that it would have obstructed too much of his vision, and that was a risk he just couldn't afford to take...

He swam up to the surface, heart slamming against his ribs as he was immediately met with someone's hand right in front of him

Although, once he looked up and saw the face of the man crouching down in front of him, that anxiety he was feeling turned instantly to releif

"Need a hand?"

"Derek," Stiles breathed with releif, eagerly reaching up to take the offered help and allowing his boyfreind to assist him in getting out of the pool

"What the hell took you so long?"

"I was doing something important," Derek replied with a slight huff, a look of panic suddenly crossing his face when he noticed the blood dripping out of Stiles' shoulder

"What the hell happened!? Are you ok?!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, it's just a flesh wound, I'll explain later, right now we have to get to Peter- FAST,"

Atleast Derek seemed to understand the urgency, nodding and grabbing Stiles' arm and hurrying to tug him towards the waiting car

"What are you going to do? You're soaking wet and bleeding,"

"Thanks for that memo dear but I've got it covered, can you drive?" Stiles asked with a slight smirk, tossing the passanger's door open and sliding in as quickly as he could

Derek seemed to be a little confused, but knew better than to doubt him and slid into the driver's side, the keys were already in the ignition so all he had to do was turn them

Stiles wasted no time in connecting his iPod to the audiojack in the car and letting the music play as Derek tore out of the driveway

I don't wanna know your name  
'Cause you don't look the same  
The way you did before

"So what's your plan?" Derek asked as he braced himself against the steering weel

Stiles kind of wanted to instruct him on how to make a get away _without_ looking like he was two seconds away from having a heart attack- or slamming on the breaks.... but he resisted the urge, nobody liked a backseat driver and he knew that better than anyone

"Turn the heat on as high as you can get it," Stiles replied with a slight shiver, reaching out to turn the vents completely on himself

"The heat!? It's eighty degrees outside, are you serious!?"

"Derek, turn on the heat," Stiles repeated with a deep frown

Derek didn't look pleased, but he obeyed, turning the heat on as high as he could and watching out of the corner of his eye as Stiles cupped his hands around the vents, a soft blue glow emminating from his hands as the heat started to form a bubble between them

And then, out of nowhere, the heat within the bubble burst and blew into Stiles like some sort of sonic hair-dryer, and .. sure enough, he looked pretty dry.... if not a little disoriented and disshevled- the way his hair was sticking up alone was almost otherworldly....

"See? I told you I'd handle it," Stiles smirked back

"What about your shoulder?" Derek challenged with a frown

"You got the stuff from my jeep like I asked right?" Stiles huffed, twisting around in his seat and already trying to climb back to get the box that Derek was supposed to bring

"Yeah... what, did you have a first aid kit in there or something?" he asked in confusion

"No, no... not... a first aid kit EXACTLY...." Stiles muttered

Derek didn't like what that implied... but he didn't get the chance to comment on it, given the fact that Stiles emerged a second later back in the seat with a large tool box in his lap

"Stiles.... I don't like where this is going....."

Incidentally, Derek had a right to be suspicious, when Stiles opened the toolbox and pulled out a pack of kleenex and a roll of duct tape....

"Stiles, **_NO_** ," Derek frowned

"I don't have a choice Derek! I don't have anything better and if I don't patch it up somehow I'm going to bleed out!"

Derek gritted his teeth, nose wrinkling and eyes burning bright as he watched his boyfreind awkwardly start to tug off his shirt

Derek wanted to protest, he wanted to insist that there would be something else, something better, that he could pull over at a Walgreens and get a first aid kit or something, but...

But he knew he couldn't, especially because of the car that was suddenly following all too closely behind them...

"Stiles... who's that?"

Stiles glanced up, his fingers wound around the edge of a strip of duct tape as his face went pale

"That would be Victoria Argent.... and it looks like she's got more than just driving on her mind...."

Surely enough, a few seconds later the sound of a gunshot rang out, forcing Derek to swirve, his elbow nocking into the volume dial and turning the music up unintentionally

_Foxy's on the run_

Stiles gasped, his hands tightening around the door and the console as Derek took a sharp turn, suddenly driving across a median, grass kicking up from the weels and nearly mowing down a tiny tree as he spun the car into the lane on the opposite side of the road

_F-Foxy_

"DUDE!! What the hell are you doing!?"

_Fox on the run_

"Saving us!"

_And hide away_

"You're going to get us killed! Let me behind the weel!"

"NO! Just let me do this Stiles!"

_Fox on the run_

Stiles' shoulders sagged, Derek clearly wanted to do this, he felt passionate about this, and ... Stiles couldn't blame him... so he yanked the top compartment out of his toolbox, eyes set in determination as he pulled out the gun Theo had convinced him to take the night before

_You scream and everybody comes_

"Stiles...? What are you doing?" Derek asked anxiously

_A running_

"Saving us," Stiles replied, rolling the window down and leaning out it, aiming the gun towards the weels of Victoria's car and pulling the trigger

_Take a run and hide_

"Are you crazy!? You're going to shoot right here in the middle of a busy road!?"

"Well she's doing it!!"

"If she jumped off a cliff would you do that too!?"

"If it saved our skins then yeah!"

_Fox on the run_

The first bullet had, unfortunately, not hit, and Victoria didn't seem likely to be letting up any time soon, one hand on the weel as she aimed her gun at their car with her other hand

_You scream and everybody comes_

"Derek..... time to swirve!" he shouted suddenly, ducking back into the car and grabbing a hold of the seatbelt he had neglected to put on

_A running_

Luckily Derek managed to swirve just in time, the storm of bullets missing their car by a hair as Victoria too was forced off track- thankfully

_Take a run and hide_

Stiles leaned out the window, preparing to shoot again, only to gasp in shock as a black Camaro zoomed past them and blocked Victoria's path

_Yourself away_

"What the hell was that!?" he screamed, Derek still driving like a maniac as the witch watched the owners of the purple car step out

"Something important," Derek smirked back

Stiles watched, heart pounding and eyes wide as he caught a glimpse of the driver

_Fox on the run_

"Holy crap.... _Lydia_!?"

"I told you, something important," Derek smirked back, finally starting to drive like a somewhat normal person again as they shifted onto a different road

_Fox on the run_

Stiles swallowed, reluctantly sitting back in his seat and setting the gun down in the cup holder

_And hide away_

"Put on your seatbelt," Derek added a second later

Stiles rolled his eyes, going back to his duct tape and shaking his head slowly

"You are a freaking horrible driver, are you aware of that? A good planner, a smart cookie, but dear God please never start street racing,"

 

~+~

 

"Are you ready for this?"

Stiles swallowed tightly, giving a slow nod and glancing away from the windsheild, eyes turning back to Derek

"I should be the one asking you that, are you really going to be ok with taking down your uncle?"

Derek looked down at the floorboards, nodding slowly and inhaling

"Yeah..... I know what Peter is, I'm not oblivious to it, he has to be stopped before things get any worse,"

Stiles wanted to say so many things to that, that Derek was braver than he would ever be, that he didn't have to watch this- he could just stay in the car- that... that he loved him

But he knew that this wasn't the time or place for any of those things, so he just squeezed his hand, and hoped that would be enough

"Let's go," he said after a moment, taking his iPod from the car jack and putting his earbuds in

The song's intro began to play, and Stiles' heart started to drum a little faster in his chest as he got out of the car, walking towards the front and holding his hand out as Derek met him from his side

The wolf took his hand, they seemed to share a breath at that moment, and they squeezed eachother's hands, turning towards the entrance to the parking garage and walking towards it with determination

_Listen to the wind blow  
Watch the sun rise_

He didn't know where Peter was at the moment, but he had a few ideas about it, he just hoped one of them was right....

_Run in the shadows_

They stepped into the parking garage, looking around for any trace of the werewolf- so far so good...

_Damn your love, damn your lies_

Derek paused suddenly, moving an arm out in front of his boyfreind and nodding towards the elevator

_And if you don't love me now_

Stiles nodded slowly, inhaling tightly as he slowly, quietly, drew his gun, taking another step towards the elevator, -arm raised to keep Derek at a distance- right as it opened to reveal Peter standing inside it

_You will never love me again_

"Hello Stiles, and to what do I owe this pleasure?"

_I can still hear you saying_

"I think we both know," Stiles replied quietly, raising the gun in front of him and clicking the safety off, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as he wrapped his finger around the trigger, his hand was trembling, his heart was pounding, but he was determined to do this, to protect his father and everyone else he cared about

_You would never break the chain_

"Oh Stiles, you and I both know that you aren't going to pull the trigger," Peter challenged, taking a few steps forward and wrapping a hand around Stiles', pulling it closer until the barrel was pressed against his chest

_And if you don't love me now_

"Pull the trigger Stiles," Peter taunted

_You will never love me again_

"PULL IT!!!!"

_I can still hear you saying_

Stiles let out a choked sob, the gun trembling in his hand as Peter reached out and clasped his fingers around it

_You would never break the chain_

"If you were going to shoot me, Stiles, you would have already done it,"

Stiles gritted his teeth, the music in his ears beating steady, drumming almost in pace with his heart- or atleast that was how it felt

_Listen to the wind blow_

"Now why don't you be a good boy and give me the gun before someone gets hurt- namely _your father_ ,"

_Down comes the night_

"You shouldn't have said that," Stiles growled, his resolve hardening as he pulled the trigger, no longer hesitant, no longer afraid, he was reminded of exactly why he needed to do this, and watching Peter gasp, watching him stagger backwards... it was .. surreal

_Damn your love, damn your lies_

Unfortunately, it was surreal for a reason, because although Peter staggered backwards, although he was hissing in clear pain..... he wasn't bleeding

He... he wasn't even injured!

Stiles' hands shook, color draining out of his face as Peter ripped the gun out of his hands and growled in anger

"Did you REALLY think it would be THAT easy Stiles?" he snarled

_And if you don't love me now_

"You know, I WAS going to kill everyone you love and make sure you never drive again... but I've changed my mind, I'll just kill everyone EXCEPT for your father, I need a new in with the police after all, I can hang his mangled, half-dead son in front of him as incentive to work for me.... and all you'll be able to do is know that his suffering is your fault, as you watch from a hospital room, maybe then you'll regret crossing me!"

_You will never love me again_

"Derek.... RUN!!" Stiles screamed, aiming a punch towards Peter's face, but the werewolf easily caught his wrist, squeezing harder... and harder... yanking a scream of agony out of Stiles' throat

_I can still hear you saying_

He could hear Derek's footsteps pounding against the pavement as he ran out of the parking garage, his heart was pounding, and his wrist... it was about to snap like a twig if he didn't do something soon

_You would never break the chain_

Stiles summoned a flame with his free hand, turning and slamming it into Peter's face, witches could work with elements to a degree, but their elemental magic was always weak, never strong enough to inflict lasting damage on anyone but a human- and even that was highly questionable, the flame wouldn't be enough to truly harm Peter, but it would hurt him enough to make him let go

_And if you don't love me now_

Surely enough, Peter screamed, his hold loosening enough for Stiles to rip his arm away and race towards the exit of the parking garage, carefully avoiding the trails of spilled gasoline on the floor as Derek reached his hand out for him

_You will never love me again_

Their hands touched, and for a second, Stiles felt like everything was happening in slow motion

_I can still hear you saying_

He raised his hand, launching a flame from his palm into the parking garage as the werewolf inside started running towards them

_You would never break the chain_

The flame caught on the edge of a gasoline puddle, licking through the fuel and starting to become an incredible burst of fire

_And if you don't love me now_

Stiles watched, wide eyed, as the fire consumed the building in front of him, stumbling backwards as Derek tugged on his arm

_You will never love me again_

He could hear Derek shouting at him, trying to get him to move further away before the building exploded and he inevitably got caught in the blowback

_I can still hear you saying_

He could hear the sounds of screaming and metal hitting against metal, things combusting, fire consuming, it was... it was a horribly mesmerizing thing...

_You would never break the chain_

"I did it..." he breathed quietly

"Peter... Peter's gone..."

Peter was gone, his father was safe, it was ... God it was all so surreal that he felt like crying

"You're free," Derek said quietly from behind him, causing Stiles to turn his head, only then realizing just how far away from the parking garage they had moved

"I'm free," he choked back, still in disbeleif, feeling the tears welling up in his eyes, a trembling breath tumbling out of his throat as Derek wrapped his arms around him, rubbing his arm gently

"You're free," Derek repeated softly

_Chain, keep us together_

He reached up, squeezing Derek's arm and letting out a quiet scream of releif, the tears finally rolling out of his eyes, head tossed back, letting the sensations wash over him

_Running through the shadows_

After five years .... he was finally free for good....

_Chain, keep us together_

"I'm sorry about your uncle, for what it's worth," he said quietly, reaching up to wipe at his eyes, breath still hitching here and there as Derek's thumb caught most of the tears and swiped them away

"Yeah... so am I," Derek replied quietly, wich was something of a zap to Stiles' releif

Wile Stiles had just put an end to a tormentor who had been keeping him on a suffocating leash for the last five years, Derek had lost one of the only family members he had left to an all-consuming fire once again

Stiles turned around in his arms, hugging his boyfreind tightly and letting his head rest against Derek's chest

He knew realistically that there was absolutely nothing he could do or say to make this better, there wasn't a medicine for every wound, some things just needed time, and Stiles could provide alot of things with magic, but time wasn't one of them

"Don't mourn for me," Derek said quietly, running his fingers slowly through Stiles' hair and inhaling deeply, trying to ignore the bitter scent of smoke that was still filling up his lungs

"And especially don't mourn for HIM, there's.... a reason that we weren't in contact Stiles,"

The witch paused, looking up at Derek in confusion and concern

"You knew?"

"Well... no, not about this, but... after the fire, when we moved, I asked Laura why Peter wasn't going to New York with us, she said that it was complicated but... that he needed to be here to mourn in his own way, that New York would be a dangerous place for him, I was confused at the time but over the years I started to realize that maybe.... maybe Peter wanted to be an Alpha, if that was the case it made sense why Laura left him behind, he would have had to take her power, wich .. probably would have resulted in killing her, and Laura .. she was always groomed to be an Alpha, she always accepted that and strived for it, but more importantly, she feels a sense of duty towards Cora and I, she especially did back when it was just us and Cora and I were still kids, I imagine... she knew how volatile Peter was and didn't want to risk us becoming his betas, if the worst were to happen, the older I got the more I reflected on some of my memories of Peter, realized that some of the things I admired about him weren't very admirable, and that some of the things he said and did that confused me weren't exactly for our best interest, so when we moved back, I decided not to look for him, besides, if he really wanted to mend fences he would look for us, that's... how I thought about it all, and I ultimately decided that some things were better left burried, I never knew what Peter was up to but I figured it was nothing good,"

Stiles nodded slowly, quietly, trying to drink in all of that

He still felt incredibly guilty that Derek had been involved in any capacity but he knew it couldn't have been helped, their plan wouldn't have worked otherwise

"I'm still sorry you had to even witness this, much less participate in it," he frowned, taking a step back as Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rag, starting to clean the gasoline marks off of his claws and not so much as flinching when another boom echoed around from the parking garage

"If it was to help you, it was worth it," he said simply, but by now Stiles was somewhat distracted, staring up at the plumes of smoke pouring off of the building in amazement

"Jeez Derek.... how many gas tanks did you slice into?"

"I don't know... four or five?"

"I thought we settled on two?"

"Insurance," Derek shrugged back, stuffing the cloth back in his pocket as his claws shrunk back into blunt human nails

The plan had worked flawlessly, Stiles distracted Peter wile Derek spilled gasoline from the cars into the garage and Stiles used that as a way to juice up his fire power and blow the entire place, but... there was still one problem, one thing Stiles hadn't been able to figure out...

Why hadn't Peter smelled the gasoline?

They had been prepared for a Plan B once he inevitably did but.... he hadn't acted like he even noticed, was he really that distracted...?

"Come on, we need to get going before the fire trucks get here,"

Stiles nodded slowly, allowing Derek to place a hand on his shoulder and start to lead him back towards the car, atleast... until Derek's cell phone went off

The werewolf pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing at the caller ID and swiping the answer button

"Hey Cora,"

_"Hello Derek,"_

Stiles didn't know what had just happened, but all of a sudden Derek turned as pale as a sheet, looking... utterly terrified for some reason...

"How the hell do you have my sister's phone?"

"Derek? What the hell is going on?" Stiles prodded further, anxiety starting to build in his chest, he had a terrible feeling that he knew EXACTLY what was going on... he just hoped to God that he was wrong....

_"Why don't you come to the diner and find out? I've got an entire audience here just waiting for you to show up, your sister, her boyfreind, some of that fancy new pack you've been building..."_

Derek gritted his teeth, his fists clenching as he glared at nothing in particular

"Let them go Kate,"

_Kate...?_

As in.... Kate _Argent_?

The color drained out of Stiles' face, breifly remembering Victoria Argent having followed them earlier, ofcourse the sleeping darts had worn off by now, they were impactfull but short-lived, and it had probably been around an hour now since he used them, maybe even longer...

He never should have just assumed that Kate wouldn't be a problem

_"Now on why on earth would I want to do that?"_

"LET THEM GO!" Derek roared

Stiles had never heard him sound so terrifying before, so full of power, full of anger, and it was all he could do to keep himself from snatching the phone away and threatening Kate himself, but he knew that would only make things worse for everyone involved

He could hear Kate laughing from the other end of the phone, and it made his blood boil, his teeth were clenched so tightly that he felt like they were going to crack

_"Come to the diner Derek, alone, where we can catch up, otherwise I can promise you that your sister won't live to see the sunrise, I expect you to be here in no more than an hour,"_

"You really think I'd be stupid enough to ditch Stiles somewhere and come alone?" Derek growled

_"Well, I mean, that's up to you, I'm just saying that if you don't show up alone, your sister dies, but don't worry, I didn't forget about your little boyfreind, there should be someone coming along to take care of him any minute now,"_

"What-"

_"But that's really enough chatting for now, I'll see you soon Derek, for your sister's sake,"_

The line went dead, and Derek was left staring off listlessly into nothing

"Derek.... I'm sorry, this is all my fault," Stiles said quietly, slowly wrapping one hand around his upper arm, head hung in shame

"Stiles.... don't, it isn't your fault, ok? None of this is your fault,"

"If I hadn't-"

"Kate was already in town, she would have gotten to me sooner or later, you didn't do anything to change that,"

"No but I should have,"

"Stiles that wasn't your job," Derek insisted with a tight frown, reaching closer and gently squeezing his shoulder- well, his good shoulder anyway

"You can't blame yourself for this, Stiles, Kate.... Kate goes back a long way with us, we have personal history, trust me, it has nothing to do with you,"

Stiles still seemed hesitant at best, but there were much more pressing matters at hand than arguing over something like this

"What do you think she meant when she said I would be 'taken care of'?" Stiles asked slowly

Derek inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and slowly shaking his head

"I don't-"

He paused, eyes narrowing as he turned his head and stared over his shoulder, gritting his teeth

"Come out!" he shouted

"I can hear your heart beating... come out!"

There was a low chuckle escaping from behind the car, wich was parked just a few yards away, the voice was low enough that Stiles could barely hear it, but he knew to Derek it must have been as loud as thunder...

"I'm disappointed in you, I've been standing back here for a wile now... I knew that the smoke would ruin your nose, but I didn't think it'd screw over your ears too,"

"Donnovan," Stiles growled, glaring as the chimera started to saunter towards them as if he didn't have a care in the world- and in fairness, he probably didn't

"Hello Stiles,"

Ofcourse.... why the hell had he thought that the Argents would be the only ones he would have to worry about when the original goal was to handle Peter's lackies in the first place?

He should have known...

"Where are the other two? Kali and Theo?"

"Don't know, they weren't there when I woke up," Donnovan shrugged back, the smirk never leaving his face

"I thought you hated hunters, why are you working with Kate Argent? Do you really hate me THAT much?" Stiles snipped with a glare

"As a matter of fact, yeah, I do, besides, once she's done with your mutt and I'm done with you, I'll just kill her myself, problem solved, until then we have a common goal so why not work together? What's that saying? The enemy of my enemy...?"

Stiles clenched his fists, anger boiling under his skin as he took a step closer, only to feel Derek's hand rest on his shoulder

"Stiles, let me handle this, I know what to do,"

"No.... no you need to go, Derek, you need to go take care of your sister,"

That seemed to surprise the werewolf, given the way his grip loosened, but Stiles... he couldn't look at Derek's face

Not now, not at this moment, not when he needed to keep on this rope of adrenaline that was carefully holding him up and keeping him from hitting the ground

"Stiles-"

"No," he said harshly, gently shaking Derek's hand away

"I've got this Derek, ok? I've got this, but you need to go take care of your sister before you run out of time, I can handle this, I'll be done here in what, five minutes? Then I'll be right behind you, I swear,"

Derek seemed hesitant, looking down and biting the inside of his lip

"She said to come alone," he said quietly

And he knew better than that, objectively, he knew that it was a trap, he knew that only bad things could come from that request but...

He also knew that this was Kate's game and if he didn't follow the rules she would just kill his sister faster than she already planned to, meaning his already small chance at saving her would shrink to nearly nothing

"Yeah, exactly, and you ARE going alone, she never said no one could show up later, and I'll be a little wile behind, can't do too much once you're already there, atleast not without you knowing, right?"

"That's true," Derek said slowly

"Then GO, and I'll be right behind you," Stiles insisted a second time, gently squeezing Derek's arm and leaning up to give him a slow, hopefull kiss

Derek hesitated for only a few moments, eyes closed tightly and lips lingering, hovering only a breath away from his partner's, before finally letting go and heading quickly towards the car

Stiles waited, waited to hear the distinct sound of the car driving off behind him, waited in silence, the music that had been playing in the background until now was filling his ears, giving something of an electric jolt through him

_I was broken from a young age_

As soon as the car was a decent distance away, he turned his attention to the chimera in front of him, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched, ready to take care of this little pest problem once and for all

_Taking my sulking to the masses_

"How do you want to do this?"

_Writing my poems for the few_

"You're asking me how I want to kill you? What do you think this _IS_? A freindly chess match? An execution? I am going to SLAUGHTER you, that doesn't have a plan," Donnovan sneered

_That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me_

Stiles narrowed his eyes, yanking two daggers out of the sheaths strapped to his belt, one in each hand, incidentally taking those weapons from the car earlier had come in more handy than he he thought they would, though... he wished he still had a gun right about now....

_Singing from heartache from the pain_

"Let's finish this- once and for all,"

_Taking my message from the veins_

Donnovan didn't bother with a verbal reply, running forward as Stiles steadied himself, his heels digging into the ground and his hands clutching the daggers as tightly as he could

_Speaking my lesson from the brain_

Donnovan aimed a punch at the witch's face, forcing Stiles to duck underneath the attack- unfortunately, that seemed to play exactly into what the chimera wanted, his hand grasping Stiles' shoulder tightly- his _bad_ shoulder

_Seeing the beauty through the_

Stiles let out a peircing cry of pain as the teeth in Donnovan's hand sunk down into his already open wound, the agony was unimaginable, it was easily the worst pain he had ever felt, but he pushed through it and in a split second jammed one of his daggers into Donnovan's opposite side, watching in satisfaction as his body jerked, a scream of his own exiting the chimera's throat

_Pain_

But it clearly wasn't enough, the grip on Stiles' shoulder- though slightly loosened- was still more than enough to keep him in place, and he could see the gaping hole forming on Donnovan's free hand as he brought it down before him

_You made me a, you made me a believer_

Stiles gritted his teeth, using his other dagger to slash through the chimera's arm, successfully keeping him from touching him- for atleast that moment- as he drew his injured arm back, and with little effort, Stiles flipped the dagger in his hand, jamming it upwards and listening to the ear-peircing scream as the blade went straight through the younger man's arm, successfully forcing his grip on Stiles to loosen up to nearly nothing

_Believer_

The witch hurried to yank the dagger out of Donnovan's side and tumbled backwards a few steps, not having had the time to retreive the blade sticking out of Donnovan's arm, he had no choice but to leave it there and hope for the best...

_Pain_

Atleast he still had a spare dagger left, he had taken three earlier, all strapped to him in their holsters, those and the gun had really been the only things he'd had room for, well... except for one other thing

_You break me down, you build me up, believer_

His hand moved down to draw the other blade from it's sheath, but instead of landing on the handle, it ended up skimming across the only other weapon he had left on him

_Believer_

Stiles licked his lips, his heart pounding as he slowly gripped the weapon, determination set in his brow

_Pain_

It would be a risky move, an incredibly, all-too risky move, but ... if it worked, then it would put an end to all of this for good

_Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain_

Before he knew it, Donnovan had dug the dagger out of his arm, a terrible screech of agony leaving his throat as he tossed it aside and began to charge at Stiles

_My life, my love, my drive, it came from_

The witch steadied himself again, aiming his blade forward, but the chimera dodged it, his hand moving to rest on Stiles' good shoulder- though much closer to his throat this time- and sinking down hard

_Pain_

Stiles screamed again, attempting to go for the same trick he used last time, but Donnovan apparently wasn't going be fooled by the same thing twice- atleast, not if he could help it

_You made me a, you made me a believer_

The second Stiles raised his free hand, Donnovan caught him by the wrist, ripping another scream of agony out of Stiles' throat as the chimera twisted him and tossed him to the ground

_Believer_

The pain from those stupid little ... little.... he wasn't sure what to call them, the teeth-mouth things embedded in the chimera's palms, it felt like thousands and thousands of tiny little needles ripping into his skin everytime they touched him

_Last things last_

He scrambled to get up, trying to upright himself so he could get atleast something akin to an upper hand again, but he was too slow, the chimera had him by the leg, this horrendous needle-like teeth digging straight the denim of his jeans and tearing into the flesh of his leg as he tugged Stiles forward

_By the grace of the fire and the flames_

Stiles' heart was pounding so loudly he wouldn't be surprised if Derek could somehow hear it, he felt Donnovan's other arm wrap around his throat, constricting around him as he tried to pull Stiles upwards, but luckily, the witch had something up his sleeve

_You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins_

His hand clutched around the weapon on his belt, and just as Donnovan was bringing up closer, he wipped around, his elbow jabbing Donnovan in the throat as the electric prod slammed into Donnovan's face

_The blood in my veins_

Right now it wasn't working, it was just condensed into a little cylinder of metal, not enough to cause lasting damage, but enough to cause some pain

_But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing_

The second Donnovan's hold loosened, however, he used the opportunity to click the button on the side of the handle, the electric prod instantly taking full form as he turned and slammed it down against Donnovan's head

_Inhibited, limited, 'til it broke open and rained down_

Stiles may hate these things with a burning passion, but it was nothing in comparison to how much he would hate himself if anything happened to Derek and his family

_You rained down like_

So it was with that thought in mind that Stiles tore out of his hold, panting desperately and bringing the baton down onto Donnovan's chest

_Pain_

There was a horrendous scream as he watched the electricity pulse through him, body jerking, but Stiles didn't stop, he slammed the baton down against him one more time, then dropped down to straddle his chest, his hands wrapping around Donnovan's throat

_You made me a, you made me a believer_

He didn't care, in that moment, how it looked, or how he would feel about this later, all that mattered right then and there was getting out of this so he could get to Derek- make sure he was alright, make sure his family was alright, and any collatoral damage along the way?

_Believer_

It was just collatoral as far as Stiles was concerned

_Pain_

He winced at the hands that were coming up his arms, trying weakly to peel them off but to no avail, Stiles' hold was too strong, and he wasn't just strangling Donnovan, he was _suffocating_ him

_You break me down, you build me up, believer_

One hand held over his throat, the other slowly pulling the breath out of his lungs in streams of magic that drifted from his fingertips down the other man's throat, pulling the breath out of his lungs bit by bit

_Believer_

The choking sounds were horrible, they were the worst thing that Stiles had ever heard, this entire thing felt long and painfull but he couldn't back off, he couldn't stop, he couldn't risk letting go until he was absolutely sure that Donnovan was gone, if he didn't, if he let go too soon and Donnovan was still alive- used that opening to attack Stiles, and as a consequence something happened to Derek and his family....

_Pain_

Stiles felt his grip tightening, harder and harder, tighter and tighter, rage starting to pour into him, anger at the position he was in had started to settle in his hands, but it wasn't until he heard a familiar, sickening, _CRACK!!_ , that he realized exactly what he had done

_Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain_

Swallowing tightly, Stiles very slowly moved back, one hand moving to hover over Donnovan's mouth and nose- nothing, no breath...

_My life, my love, my drive, it came from_

He dropped the blade and the baton, his entire body shaking as he collapsed down on the ground next to the chimera, tears brimming in his eyes, his breath coming out in quiet, choked, near-sobs as the reality of it all slammed into him

_Pain_

He hadn't realized it would hit him this hard.... but he knew that he couldn't dwell on it, he could obsess over it later, but now really wasn't the time, right now he had to get to Derek

_You made me a, you made me a believer_

So, slowly, he climbed to his feet, his hands shaking as he reached down and collected the weapons on the ground, shrinking the electric baton back to it's typical travel size from before and shoving it back in it's holder, the dagger going into it's sheath right after

_Believer_

He spared another quick, lingering look in Donovan's direction before heading off on his own, panting quietly and wincing at the sharp jolts of pain making their way through his body at with each and every step

He didn't know how he was going to get out of here and get to Derek in the near future like this, especially without a car

He figured that he would have to end up stealing one, but he didn't know how he was even going to accomplish that in this condition

He was just lucky that Donnovan hadn't done any _major_ damage- he'd be in big trouble if he had

He spent about ten minutes walking, the pain in his leg increasing with every step, he was having a hard time moving forward at this rate, and he had only covered a tiny amount of ground since this stupid little journey began

The parking garage had been attached to a huge warehouse virtually in the middle of nowhere, no other buildings around or anything, and fine proof of that was how long it was taking the emergency responders to get here after he and Derek had essentially blown up the building

He could hear the sirens in the distance, and although he knew he should be worried about getting caught like this, they were still far enough away that he'd be able to hide easily once they were on the scene, but .. if anything that only made him more anxious

Knowing he would have to take more time in order to hide when he was already working against the clock was far from a pleasant thought

And then, just as he was starting to feel hopeless, he spotted a car up ahead- and it was ... barreling towards him at top speed apparently

Anxiety was blooming, his throat tight and his chest heavy, worry that whoever was driving was another of Peter's goons ready to take him out

He swallowed tightly magic brimming at the tips of his fingers as he waited for whatever was about to happen next

He was prepared for alot of things, another goon, a hunter, an undercover cop, hell at this point he probably wouldn't have been shocked if an alien had pulled up towards him, but what actually happened....

Well, that was the one thing he WASN'T prepared for

The car sped towards him, suddenly coming to a stop right in front of him, and it was only then that he realized he recognized the car

It was the same black Camaro that had stopped Victoria earlier, and apparently it was waiting on him for some reason

He took a hesitant step forward, watching the driver's side window roll down and reveal who was sitting behind the weel

_"Lydia!?"_

"Get in loser, we're going rescuing,"

He kind of wondered how long she had been waiting to use that line, but there were more pressing questions at hand, especially when one of the back doors opened to invite him in

Hesitantly, he stepped into the car, squishing himself between two complete strangers to sit in the center before the door shut and Lydia started driving off again

"What the hell is going on? How are you even here?" Stiles asked in astonishment, turning the music down on his iPod enough that he could better hear the people in the car- actually, he could even hear what was on the car radio

(He decided not to ask about plugging his iPod in, there were more pressing matters at hand, and besides, Selena Gomez was fine, and he doubted he'd be able to pay attention to the music for once anyway)

"Derek called us, we got here as soon as we could,"

"Derek- ... I'm so confused," he said with a sigh, leaning back and closing his eyes for a moment

"Maybe this will help, I'm Laura," the woman next to him introduced

Laura... Laura....?

...

"Laura... as in Laura HALE?! As in Derek's sister Laura!?"

"That's the one, it's nice to meet the guy my little brother has been falling all over for the last couple of months,"

She offered her hand out, and, not knowing what the hell else to do, Stiles slowly shook it, turning when he felt a tap on his shoulder and staring at the woman on his other side

"Malia, Laura's cousin, just so you know,"

"Cousin...? But I thought-"

"It's a long story,"

"I'm Kira, by the way," he heard, glancing up at the girl looking back at them from the passenger's seat

So much for clearing up confusion....

"Yeah... yeah I don't feel less confused at ALL....."

"We talked to Derek earlier tonight, he pulled over our car and told us what was going on so we decided to help, you're welcome for the Argent woman, by the way," Malia explained briskly

Earlier that night? Then...

"You're the important thing that Derek was doing," Stiles muttered, mostly to himself

"But why were the four of you together in the first place?"

"We weren't, Kira was with Scott, when Derek stopped their car she decided to help us instead of going home with the others," Laura replied, leaning a little bit closer and gently peeling Stiles' shirt down to get a look at the wound on his shoulder

"What- .. ah... what about you three?" he winced back

"Lydia's car is in the shop, we decided we'd drive her up here and get a chance to meet the new in-laws," Malia answered- as if that explained anything

"This was, ofcourse, before we knew they were Argents," Laura added, leaning over to take a look at Stiles' other shoulder- the one that had been damaged _twice_ now, thank you very much

"Allison isn't like the others though, she would never do this, I don't think her dad would either," Lydia insisted

"Yeah no, I met Allison, I'm with you Lyds, I mean I can't speak for her dad but... Allison doesn't know anything about any of this, I know it,"

He yelped suddenly, jerking when Laura accidentally brushed against one of his wounds the wrong way

"Stiles... these injueries are pretty bad, you really need to go to the hospital,"

"No," he said with a determined frown, "I'm not going to the hospital, I'm going to help Derek,"

"Stiles, you can't help ANYONE like this, you're too badly hurt," Laura insisted with a frown

"We could go by the Argents', borrow Allison's car, Lydia can take him to the hospital and we can go help Derek," Kira suggested

"Are any of you listening to me at all!?"

"Sure, it doesn't mean we're paying attention though," Malia shrugged back

Stiles heaved a sigh, licking across his bottom teeth and feeling his fingers twitch, glancing up at the veiw through the windsheild and grimacing

Ofcourse they were going in the direction of the Argent house, of-freaking-course

"Lydia I'm serious, I'm not going to the hospital so you might as well-"

"This isn't for you," she said suddenly, sounding infinitely more serious and ... kind of terrified than she did earlier

"Lydia... did you sense something?" Malia asked slowly

Right... Lydia was a banshee, she could sense death and danger ahead, and her reaction- the tightness in her voice, the sudden seriousness in the air- had Stiles' throat constricting, anxiety pounding away at his mind just like it had been almost non-stop since yesterday, but it was worse somehow now, more intense...

"Lydia, what is it? What did you-?"

"Smoke,"

Stiles stopped mid-sentence, turning with fright towards Laura, who looked every bit as terrified as he felt, he could even see tears brimming in the Alpha's eyes

He didn't wait any longer, climbing over Malia's lap and rolling the window down

He couldn't smell it, but he could see the cloud of smoke hovering over the air in the direction of the Argent house

"Hold on tight," Lydia said suddenly, her voice as tight as a wire as she suddenly spun the car into the next lane

Stiles yelped, falling backwards and spilling into the floorboards, head smacking against the back of the passenger's seat and causing the ringing in his ears to increase

He hissed softly, fumbling around to get up-righted again, arm flying up and nocking against the radio dial, turning the music up louder

_But you don't understand, I don't need a man_

"Is there an extra seatbelt I can use?" Stiles groaned, climbing back into the backseat between Laura and Malia

"Nope, Camaros only have the four," Malia answered briskly

"What!?"

Lydia suddenly slammed her foot down on the pedal, clearly a free (or freer?) stretch of road up ahead, and causing Stiles to press hard back into the seat

_No jodas nosotras_

Stiles had to hold onto Laura's seatbelt to keep himself from spilling back into the floorboards as Lydia tore the car off of the road and towards the street leading to the Argent residence

_Me and my girls_

"Holy God this is how I die," Stiles breathed, heart pounding a mile a minute as Lydia's foot into the gas pedal

Was this how he drove?

Was this why people always said he drove like a maniac!?

The car swirved again, racing down a dirt road and forcing Stiles to loose his grip, if it hadn't been for Laura reaching out to slam her arm into his chest, he would have flown head-first into the back of the seat in front of him

The car's very abrupt stop made him want to puke, he felt dizzy and ill and Laura's elbow was digging into his arm and he suddenly realized what car sickness felt like

Unfortunately, he didn't get the time to readjust, the smoke was filling the windows now, suffocatingly, and he forced himself to look up and stare at the house he had been at less than two hours ago

He swallowed hard, feeling the color drain out of his face as his eyes locked on the flames that had engulfed the building in front of him

The engine turned off suddenly and he was jerked out of his stupor by the doors to the car swinging open, the girls all rushing out and racing towards the house

Stiles followed after, the surreality of the moment blending disturbingly well with the music still playing in his ears, his iPod somehow having survived the car ride from hell

_Eyes black, big paws_

He slid out of the car behind Laura, legs wobbling as he rushed to stand beside her, he was sure that watching this house go up in flames was bringing up memories for her- bad memories, too many bad memories....

_And it's poison, and it's blood_

But Lydia was the one he was most concerned about, his eyes shifting over to her, registering the utter shock on her face, the paleness, the way she looked so... out of it... as if the fire was somehow consuming her along with the house, like she was in a trance, staring deep into the flames

_A big fire, big burn_

"ALLISON!!!!!!!" she screamed, clearly having broken out of her trance

_Into the ashes_

The scream was loud, it was peircing, but it wasn't a banshee's scream, he may not have ever heard _Lydia_ scream as a banshee before, but he had been unlucky enough to hear a banshee's scream- once...- and this was nowhere near as.... earth-shattering as that had been

_And no return_

"I'm going in," Kira said suddenly, taking her belt off and snapping it out in front of her, the links of the metal belt forming a solid sword- wich... well, Stiles could safely say he had never seen anything like that before

Stiles didn't get the chance to try to stop her, she was rushing forward before he could even make a sound, but apparently Malia saw the fear and hesitation in his eyes- or maybe in his body language, hell maybe she even smelled it in his scent, although with how overwelming the smell of smoke was, he kind of doubted that

"She's a kitsune, she'll be fine," the young woman said quickly, taking a few strides towards Lydia and snapping her fingers in front of her face, apparently jolting her out of the foggy daze she had still been in

It sparked a reaction out of Stiles too, and he hurried to shake Laura's shoulders, snapping his fingers in front of her as well

"Laura... Laura hey!! HEY!!"

Thankfully the Alpha's eyes fluttered, her body unsteady as she stumbled a step backwards, putting a hand to her head to steady herself

"We need to figure out who's in there and where they are, the house is too big for Kira to get through on her own and still expect to rescue everyone in time," Malia said suddenly, finally seeming to shake reality back into both Lydia and Laura, a new sense of determination entering their atmospheres

_We've been calling_

"Malia and I will listen for heartbeats, I'll take this side, Malia can take the opposite, Lydia, you need to stay here and try your hardest to get a vision or hear some voices or do whatever it is you can do," Laura instructed, the Alpha instincts in her clearly taking control and the trauma she had been experiencing in the backseat once more

_Black paw who's soaring_

"What do I do?" Stiles asked quickly, trying to ignore the pain that was steadily throbbing in his leg

"You... try not to bleed to death and stay out of the way,"

"Wah- I'm a witch! I must be able to do SOMETHING!"

"Can you go into fire without burning?"

"Not- .. well... no...."

"Can you track people?"

"Ah... not... without a tracking spell, wich I can't-"

"Right, so, try not to bleed to death and stay out of the way,"

Well that was anticlimactic

Still, Stiles took it seriously, giving Lydia some room as she sat down on the ground and stared at the flames, Laura and Malia already taking off towards their respective directions

He felt so useless all of a sudden, just standing here watching wile everyone else did their part to save the Argent house- a house that he was somewhat responsible in destroying at that

He was powerfull, he had magic, and yet he couldn't do anything but stand here and watch, he couldn't walk through fire- not without magic heavier than what he could conjure at this moment anyway- and he couldn't track anyone without having something to track them _with_ so.... useless

All he could do was just pace around, waiting for something to happen, and glancing down at his iPod as the song switched, his eyes somewhat glued to the small screen

**_Bad Moon Rising - Mourning Ritual_ **

Huh... what an interesting turn that of all songs, THIS would be the one to show up now...

It kind of reminded him of something....

_"I went on a heist with this guy once -- called 'em 'jinx songs -- he thought if one of those songs came on the radio it meant we were going to die -- you don't have any jinx songs... do you?"_

_"No,"_

A jinx song...

He glanced at Lydia, giving a slight snort and feeling his lips quirk up into a small smile

If he said anything to her about "jinx songs" she undoubtedly would go off on some thing about there being no such thing as jinxes- _"Jinxes are nothing but coincidences at best Stiles,"_

He moved to sit down next to her, his shoulders sagging as his gaze settled on her features

_I see a bad moon a-rising_

He knew that he shouldn't bother a banshee when they were trying to Trance, but... his heart ached to see her this way

_I see trouble on the way_

He reached out to place a hand over her's, but before he could touch her-

"They're in the basement,"

"Wait, wha-"

He didn't get a chance to say anything further, Lydia had jumped to her feet, screaming at the top of her lungs

"THE BASEMENT! THEY'RE IN THE BASEMENT!"

_There's a bad moon on the rise_

He swallowed, leaping to his feet and rushing after her, his heart pounding loudly in his chest as he raced to catch up

_I hear hurricanes a-blowing_

By the time he managed to get Lydia back in his sights, she was already standing in front of the side of the house, her hands out in front of her and taking in a breath

_I know the end is coming soon_

"Cover your ears!" Malia shouted

_I fear rivers overflowing_

And just as Stiles brought his hands up to his ears, Lydia let out the most earth-shattering, quaking, wailing scream he had ever heard

_I hear the voice of rage and ruin_

The ringing in his ears was horrendous, he fell to the ground clutching his head, eyes watering and heart pounding as his fingernails dug at his scalp, it felt like there were sirens going off against his eardrums, he had to yank his earbuds out just to loosen the pressure

It was horrible.... it was.... indescribably painfull

But he chanced a look up, his hands shaking, as he stared at the shattered glass of the window at the bottom of the house, a basement window he assumed

Before he could stop her, Lydia slid into the house from the opening, despite Malia's frantic shouting for her not to

He made his way back to his feet, wobbling and panting terribly as he stumbled towards the window, his ears were still ringing worse than usual, but atleast he was starting to make out what Malia was saying

_"St--Iiiilss!! St-IIiiiles! STILES!!!"_

He inhaled deeply, hands trembling as he moved to jump down through the shattered window, little shards of glass were poking at his skin, but he didn't care, his priority was helping Lydia, making sure she got out of this alive, righting a wrong he had unintentionally taken part in...

With one last breath, he carefully placed his earbuds back in and jumped down into the burning house

_Oh don't go around tonight_

The plumes of smoke that filled his lungs were intense, dragging a coughing fit out of him as he looked up, feeling bile rise in his throat, fists clenching and punching the tiny smitherines of glass further into his skin

_For it's bound to take your life_

Allison, her father, and the unidentified brunette woman who had distracted Victoria earlier were all chained to some weird ... fence... like a metal chain-link board... black tape over their mouths and hands and feet tied thoroughly into the chains

_There's a bad moon on the rise_

"Move," Stiles instructed quietly, not that Lydia seemed to hear him, she was still desperately tugging on and fussing with the chains around Allison's wrists

_There's a bad moon on the rise_

"Lydia! Move!" he shouted again, finally seeming to startle her away from the chains as Stiles stalked forward, moving as quickly as he could towards them, the loose placement of his earbuds causing them to fall out and dangle at his sides, but he couldn't take the time to fix it

No matter how badly his ears were ringing, he didn't have the time to fix it

"Go to the stairs, scream at the door, hopefully Kira will hear you," he instructed

Lydia seemed hesitant, but eventually followed through with his instructions

He swallowed tightly, taking her place at Allison's side and wrapping his fingers around the chains, giving them a rough yank

They were pretty firmly in place....

He reached down, gently peeling the tape off of Allison's mouth and licking his lips

"Allison, there's gotta be something down here that can help me get these chains undone, I need you to think ok? Think, what could I use?"

"I... I don't know, I hardly ever come down here," she replied in a rush, letting out a loud cough

Great, that was all he needed...

He heard a muffled screaming from beside him, glancing up at Allison's father as he tugged on the chains around his wrists, clearly trying to say something

The witch reached up, yanking the tape off of his mouth without nearly as much care as he had used with Allison- he was in something of a hurry

"Bolt cutters, there are bolt cutters in a box on the table, a metal toolbox," he rattled off quickly

Stiles didn't waste time, rushing to the table and hurrying to open the box, but just as he was flipping the lid open, the terrible, screeching wail of the banshee peirced through his ears again

It wasn't as loud as before, not nearly as detrimental, but the comparison between this scream and the last was much like comparing a Great White Shark to a Megalodon

Yes, the difference was massive, but one could kill you just as easily as the other

A strangled cry came from his lungs as his legs buckled, his hands coming up to cover his ears as the ringing grew more intense again

He had to blink back tears, had to move forward- hurry... _HURRY!_

So he picked up his earbuds again, hands shaking as he pressed them into his buzzing ears

_When I was a child I heard voices_

He panted, the heat and the pain and the blood loss starting to catch up to him as he grabbed the bolt cutters from the box

_Some would sing and some would scream_

He stumbled back towards the three humans in chains, feeling the sweat starting to drip down from his face, down his neck, Lydia's voice was muffled now as she called out to Kira, apparently having successfully gotten her attention

_You'll soon find you have few choices ___

__He bit down on his tongue, trying to keep himself steady as he dropped down to the floor, situating the chains around Allison's ankles between the bolt cutters and summoning a rush of magic to his hands and down his arms, forcing strength into his body where it didn't previously exist_ _

___I learned the voices died with me_ _ _

__He snapped down and let out a breath at the sound of the metal cutting, it was... a strange sort of singing noise...._ _

___When I was a child I'd sit for hours_ _ _

__God he was foggy, it was everything he could do to make all of this work, his movements ten times more sluggish than he would have liked as he moved the cutters towards the man next to Allison_ _

___Staring into open flames_ _ _

__"STILES!" he heard, turning his head and watching as Kira and Lydia rushed towards him, stumbling back as Kira snatched away the bolt cutters_ _

___Something in it had a power_ _ _

__"Stiles?! STILES!?" Lydia shouted, snapping her fingers in front of his face_ _

___Could barely tear my eyes away_ _ _

__He blinked rapidly, taking in a shaking breath and coughing loudly at the sudden intake of smoke, he felt dizzy and light-headed, he felt like his skin was melting, he felt like his body was falling apart at the seams_ _

___All you have is your fire_ _ _

__"Go! Stiles go! Help Allison out NOW!" Lydia demanded, finally forcing the young witch to snap out of the daze and nod shakily as Allison dropped down to the floor in a heap_ _

___And the place you need to reach_ _ _

__He didn't waste time, wrapping an arm around her to help her to her feet before rushing her towards the opening Lydia had created earlier_ _

___Don't you ever tame your demons_ _ _

__Ofcourse, getting down here had been the easy part, getting back up... well...._ _

___But always keep them on a leash_ _ _

__"Climb on me," he demanded immediately, neeling down with his hands out, palms cupped, waiting for her to use his hands as a foot-hold so she could climb on top of him and get to the top where Malia and likely Laura were waiting to help her out_ _

___When I was sixteen my senses fooled me_ _ _

__Allison seemed hesitant at first, but after seeing her father rushing behind her, apparently decided not to dwell, stepping into Stiles' waiting palms before climbing onto his shoulders and finally digging her fingertips into the soft grass above her_ _

___Thought gasoline was on my clothes_ _ _

__The moment he felt the pressure of Allison's body disappear from his shoulders- literally- he nodded towards her father, silently encouraging him to follow suit_ _

___I knew that something would always rule me_ _ _

__He, the unnamed woman, and Lydia all went up with relative ease, but then he was left to wonder... how did he get back up there?_ _

___I knew this scent was mine alone_ _ _

__"Stiles!"_ _

__He turned around, stumbling to his feet as Kira rushed towards him_ _

__"Ki-"_ _

__"I'll help you, just hurry!" she said quickly, already neeling down and putting her hands out in front of her_ _

___When I was a man I thought it ended_ _ _

__Stiles hesitated, his fists clenching, Kira needed to get out too, and if she helped him up-_ _

___When I knew love's perfect ache_ _ _

__"I"ll go through the front door! Fire power remember?"_ _

___But my peace has always depended_ _ _

__He gave a shakey nod, putting his foot in her hands and climbing up onto her shoulders, taking Laura's hands as she hurriedly tugged him out of the house_ _

___On all the ashes in my wake_ _ _

__He coughed loudly, panting and shaking, his eyes were blurry and his body was full of tremors, but he pushed- he still pushed, crawling away from the house and flopping down on his back, eyes closed and breathing heavy_ _

__He felt hands on him, soft hands, one on his arm, the other on his cheek, they were cool to the touch_ _

__He could distantly hear someone calling out to him, calling his name, but God.... his ears... they were still ringing so loudly... his head was so full and foggy, and the heat was still consuming him like fresh flames_ _

___Don't you ever tame your demons_ _ _

__"STILES!!!"_ _

___But always keep them on a leash_ _ _

__His eyes fluttered open, gulping down a breath and forcing himself to sit up, eyes blurry and unfocused as he took in Laura's eyes_ _

__They were dark brown, like umber, not at all like the soft forest green of Derek's, but... they somehow seemed similar, they held that same passion, that same pain, the same calm...._ _

__A calm that he could feel wash over him like a soothing wave, taking a bit of the sting out of the burning sensation in his blood_ _

__"Are you ok?"_ _

__"I'm fine," he croaked quietly, turning his head as he heard Kira rush out of the house and run towards the group_ _

__"Is everybody ok!?"_ _

__"We're fine, we're all fine," Stiles added with a cough, shakily moving to stand up and brushing his hands against his jeans, hoping that any of the larger shards of glass would brush off on the fabric and get out of his hands_ _

__"Good, because we have a bigger problem," Allison said quickly, tangling her fingers with Lydia's as she took a step towards the rest of them_ _

__"Please tell me our bigger problem is that we need to go rescue my boyfreind from your psychotic arsonist aunt?"_ _

__"Wait, what?"_ _

__Oh.... right, she probably didn't know that particular little family secret...._ _

__"What's the problem?" Laura asked hurriedly_ _

__"Scott, the woman who chained us up said something about taking Scott,"_ _

__Stiles cursed under his breath in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose_ _

__So now they were going to be even more delayed in getting to Derek than they already were, freaking fantastic..._ _

__But it couldn't be helped now, they needed to rescue Scott from whatever the hell Kali was planning to do to him, and Derek...._ _

__Derek was capable, he could take care of himself, for now atleast_ _

__"I'll go get the car from the garage, the fire shouldn't have spread there yet," Allison's father said quickly, taking off towards the driveway_ _

__"Wah- you guys are coming along?" Stiles asked in surprise, hurrying to follow Laura and Malia as they started off towards their own car_ _

__"Ofcourse we are," Allison said immediately, following behind the others with Lydia clinging to her side_ _

__"I'm riding with Allison and my mom," Lydia said suddenly, wich caused Stiles to stop in his tracks and stare over his shoulder at the brunette woman following right behind Lydia_ _

__Her mother..._ _

__Well that explained alot_ _

__"What happened to you guys anyway?" Malia asked suddenly, giving Stiles a not-so-gentle push to keep going_ _

__"I went down to the basement where my dad was, we were trying to get our security system back up, and I was looking for my bow and arrows, by the time we went back upstairs Mom and Aunt Kate were gone, and Mrs. Martin was just waking up, I went upstairs to survey the damage and when I came back down... that woman had already chained up Mrs. Martin and was threatening my dad..."_ _

__"And then she put you in the basement," Stiles guessed_ _

__"Right, I heard her talking to the werewolf that was with her, they said they were going to take Scott and use him as a lure to get to you, I don't know why, I don't know what they want, but I overheard them talking about getting you back for something, and then... then the werewolf said something about a guy named Peter and... that it would be 'his ideal plan'... that we burned his family ... so they were going to burn our's, what does that mean?"_ _

__So obviously there were some details in the family history books that Allison had yet to be privvy to...._ _

__"Just trust me when I say it's a long story," he reasoned as Laura pulled open the driver's side door_ _

__He paused breifly by the backdoor, glancing at Allison sympathetically as Kira slid into the passenger's side_ _

__"I am sorry about all of this though... really,"_ _

__"It isn't your fault," Allison said softly, wich... in some ways made Stiles feel incredibly guilty_ _

__It was more his fault than she realized, but there wasn't time to argue about things like this, so he slid into the car with a final nod, shutting the door behind him and waiting for Malia- who had just slid into her own side- to shut her door as well_ _

__"By the way, how do you all know eachother anyhow?" Allison frowned_ _

__"Book club," Malia answered as she shut the door, though, vaguely, Stiles could still hear Allison's _" **This** is your book club???"_ before Laura peeled out of the driveway_ _

__"Book Club? Seriously?" Stiles asked dryly_ _

__"Well, it started that way atleast, so it's still true enough," Malia insisted_ _

__Stiles just sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back against the seat_ _

__"Riiiiight," Stiles said slowly, shaking his head slowly and turning his concentration towards Laura_ _

__"Any clue where we're going?"_ _

__"Scott's, she must have gone in the direction of his house if she wanted to take him,"_ _

__"And what makes you say that?"_ _

__"Derek was still talking to us when Scott's car pulled up and he redirected it, last we heard he and his mom were going to drop off Kira's parents at her house and then head home, we waited at the same spot for a wile until we saw Victoria's car and went after it, if my calculations are right then Scott would have been heading home at around the time that his potential kidnapper left, she may have cornered them or broken into his house... but Scott was telling the truth when he said he planned to go straight home, the route would be the same,"_ _

__"So we're basically taking almost zero information here and trying to turn it into something we can reasonably go off of?"_ _

__"Something like that," Laura shrugged_ _

__Great.... exactly what he needed to hear_ _

__He shifted a little, wincing as the pain in his shoulder lit through his nerves, he wouldn't be surprised if he had pulled something when he was in the fire...._ _

__"You really do need to go to the hospital," Malia commented off-handedly_ _

__Stiles just sighed, giving her an irritated look_ _

__"I'm not going anywhere until I know Derek is safe, and I can't go help him until I've made sure Scott is safe, see how this is all some big chain reaction?"_ _

__"Maybe Scott can patch you up, I think he still has the first aid kit in his mom's car from a couple of weeks ago when he was helping the Wilsons' cat," Kira suggested_ _

__Yeah... Stiles was just... not even going to ask about that, he didn't need to know_ _

__"Why would Kali take Melissa's car? It seems like more trouble than to just take-" he paused, shoulders sinking a little_ _

__"Take what?" Malia prompted with confusion_ _

__"We all took the same car..." Stiles said quietly, leaning back a little more_ _

__"Derek picked me up in his car when I left the Argent house, Donnovan took the car we had taken, he must have, there was no way he could have walked that far and taken such a short amount of time, he showed up right after we blew up the parking garage-"_ _

__"You blew up a parking garage?"_ _

__"-he must have taken the car, there was no other way for him to have gotten there that quickly,"_ _

__"What are you saying?" Malia frowned_ _

__"He's saying that he thinks Kali walked, right?" Laura guessed_ _

__"Or stole a car, either way she was massively slowed down in getting to Scott's,"_ _

__"I don't get it, so she was slow, what's the point?" Malia frowned_ _

__"The point is, she might still be in Scott's neighborhood- if she's even gotten there at all yet," Stiles replied slowly_ _

__Laura apparently took the hint, tightening her hands around the weel_ _

__"Alright girls and boy, hang on tight,"_ _

___Live fast die young, bad girls do it well_ _ _

__Laura really didn't use that warning lightly, apparently, considering she slammed on the pedal so hard that it forced Stiles to hit against the back of the seat, eyes bugging open like a cat that was being pet too hard_ _

___Live fast die young, bad girls do it well_ _ _

__His nails dug into the leather of the seats, heart racing as Laura swirved the car down another road_ _

___My chain hits my chest when I'm banging on the dashboard_ _ _

__If he had thought Lydia was a crazy driver before, he really overestimated her in comparison to Laura_ _

___My chain hits my chest when I'm banging on the radio_ _ _

__He kind of wondered how the hell Derek ever survived being in a car with this woman, especially when she suddenly jerked the car into a different lane and- somehow- managed to step on the gas even harder, slinging Stiles into the door beside him_ _

___Get back, get down_ _ _

__He felt dizzy, taking a shaking breath as he reached up to grip the grab-handles above the door, his heart pounding a mile a minute in his chest as she sped past another car_ _

___Pull me closer if you think you can hang_ _ _

__The neighborhood was right ahead now, and Laura seemed bound and determined to get there as quickly as she possibly could_ _

___Hands up, hands tied_ _ _

__Surely enough, in only a matter of seconds, she had entered the neighborhood, turning sharply down the road towards Scott's, and just as she did that, right as she was pulling in, another car- MELISSA'S car- was racing towards them_ _

___Don't go screaming if I blow you with a bang_ _ _

__Laura suddenly pulled in and parked sideways, cutting off the route for the other car and leaving her own running as she hurried to get out and pop her claws out, walking easily towards the other car_ _

__Kira, Malia, and Stiles followed quickly after, determination set in their faces as Stiles adjusted his iPod, turning the volume up a little to better tune out the ringing in his ears_ _

___I'm only human_ _ _

__The doors to Melissa's car opened, Stiles tensed, watching as Scott climbed out of the passanger's seat, surprisingly unharmed_ _

__The releif was short lived, however, when Melissa climbed out of the driver's side, hands held in front of her, and a set of claws at her throat_ _

__Kali slid out of the back, her claws moving for only a split second between the skin of the human's throat and the side of the car before pressing hard up against them again_ _

___Maybe I'm foolish_ _ _

__"Really? Burning down the Argent house? Don't you think that was just a LITTLE bit tacky?" Stiles challenged_ _

___Maybe I'm blind_ _ _

__"Not as tacky as you stabbing us all in the back," Kali returned simply_ _

___Thinking I can see through this_ _ _

__"Oh are we REALLY going with that as an excuse? You couldn't care less about me!"_ _

___And I see what's behind_ _ _

__"True.... but Theo could,"_ _

__"Theo? What does Theo have to do with anything?"_ _

__"Theo has EVERYTHING to do with ALL of this," Kali huffed back, her fingers flexing slightly against Melissa's throat and causing a wave of tension to pass over the group_ _

__"I don't understand-"_ _

__"Ofcourse you don't, you selfish imbecille, but you'll find out soon enough,"_ _

__Stiles didn't like the sound of that, it made his throat feel tight, a shiver going down his spine_ _

__"What the hell do you mean? Allison said you wanted to use Scott as some kind of lure... what are you trying to lure me to?"_ _

__The werewolf's lips quirked up, a glint of devious humor in her eyes_ _

__"You may want to concern yourself less with your freind.... and more with your father,"_ _

__Stiles felt like the breath had been punched out of him, his eyes wide, his chest aching, anxiety filling him up like water in drowning lungs_ _

__"What the hell are you talking about!?" he shouted, anger clearly brimming against his skin_ _

__"Where do you think Theo is right now? Why don't you think I had the car?"_ _

__"The car? But Donnovan-"_ _

__"Was dropped off by Theo,"_ _

__So that was how he had done it...._ _

__Stiles clenched his fists, gritting his teeth and trying to plan... something.... just... _something_ in his head that would free Melissa from this situation, something that he could use, something that he could fight with..._ _

__"Kali, just let the human go," Laura said slowly, taking a step forward_ _

__"Or what? There's nothing any of you can do that won't result in ending her life, a kitsune, a coyote, and an Alpha wolf- oh... and ofcourse, the beta pup you all came to rescue, but you're all brute strength, even the little witch couldn't do anything that wouldn't take her down with me,"_ _

__Unfortunately, she was absolutely right_ _

__Even if Stiles were to pull off something from this range like suffocating her, the likelihood was that she would just slash Melissa's throat the minute she felt her airways start to constrict, and he couldn't think of anything clever that would get past her senses, nothing that wouldn't pose the same risk to the human's life anyway_ _

__"I'm not saying there is," Laura said suddenly, taking another step forward and gently, subtlely, nudging Stiles in the leg_ _

__She was right in front of him now, so he chanced a look over his shoulder, eyes widening with releif when he saw Allison's car pulling into the driveway of a house just a few yards down, he hadn't been able to hear it coming, between the music playing from his iPod and the discussion going on with Kali_ _

__"I'm just saying that you don't have to do this... Melissa McCall is innocent, she's never harmed anyone, not humans OR werewolves, she's on our side so why kill her just because of Theo?"_ _

__"Because of Theo?" Kali asked in, seemingly, legitimate surprise_ _

__"You think I'm doing all of this because of THEO? I'm not doing ANYTHING for him, I'm doing this for ME,"_ _

__"For you? Why the hell would you want to kill an innocent person?" Malia asked, stepping in front of Stiles as well, standing next to Laura now_ _

__Stiles glanced over his shoulder, trying to calm his racing heart as he watched Lydia and Allison slide out of the car, walking as quickly as they could down the sidewalk towards them, with their parents right behind_ _

__"Because I want to make the witch suffer and this is the way to do it,"_ _

__"Oh come on, you're doing this over HIM? _Stiles?_ He's not even worth getting off the couch, much less killing people for," Malia huffed_ _

__Normally, Stiles would be offended over that- especially considering they had _just. met._ but in this instance... he was actually almost glad for it_ _

__"I was happy working for Peter! His plans may have been a little convoluted from time to time but the amount of hunters we took out in the last year alone? That was the best work I've _ever_ done, not only did the witch put a stop to that, he let half the Argents get away! And now? Now I'm a little _cranky_ about it!"_ _

__"So if you want Stiles, take _Stiles_ , hurt HIM, not innocent people!"_ _

__He knew Malia was trying to help but he was starting to take this kind of personally...._ _

__"I thought about that, but unfortunately, I know him too well, I could spend YEARS torturing him and it would never amount to the pain he'll feel losing people he cares about,"_ _

__Stiles glanced over his shoulder again, feeling his nerves start to escalate, Lydia was right behind him now, and with the look she was giving him... he had a feeling she had a plan_ _

__"You're right, hurting someone he cares about WILL hurt him more than anything else, but there's something you've overlooked," Laura said simply_ _

__"What? The little band of hunters that have been following you this entire time? I noticed, but they can't do anything more than you can, and anything they try will just get this innocent woman killed," she smirked_ _

__"Except we weren't talking about the hunters," Laura said simply_ _

__"We were talking about the banshee," Kira smirked_ _

__"Melissa, cover your ears!" Malia shouted as the girls all jumped out of the way_ _

__Stiles, unfortunately, didn't get more than a split second to react before Lydia let out an ear-peircing, earth-shattering banshee scream_ _

___I'm only human, I make mistakes_ _ _

__The vibrations nocked Stiles to the ground, hands over his ears, pushing the earbuds in harder and hissing as the ringing grew louder again_ _

___I'm only human, that's all it takes_ _ _

__Apparently, the scream did the same thing to Kali, the werewolf falling backwards, her head slamming against the pavement as Melissa, hands over her ears, landed on top of her_ _

___To put the blame on me_ _ _

__Scott rushed to his mother's side, still holding a hand over one ear as he reached down and helped her to her feet, hurrying to stand protectively in front of her_ _

___Don't put the blame on me_ _ _

__The scream finally ended, Stiles exhaled, gulping down breaths as he shakily pushed himself to his feet_ _

___'Cause I'm no prophet or messiah_ _ _

__His eyes were blurry, his head was pounding, and when he looked down he could see a puddle of blood forming on the concrete, dripping down from his aggrivated shoulder_ _

___You should go looking somewhere higher_ _ _

__He felt dizzy and nausiated, everything hurt, but he forced himself to stand anyway, watching in utter awe as Laura ran towards the stumbling Alpha in the center of the road, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her down into the neighbor's yard_ _

___I'm only human after all_ _ _

__Stiles flicked his tongue against his teeth, a slight grin forming on his face as he spied the rose bush barely a foot away from the wolves_ _

___I'm only human after all_ _ _

__He stumbled forward, listening to the background noise of Kira hurrying to check on Scott and Melissa, Lydia was saying something to Allison but it was muffled, and suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder_ _

___Don't put the blame on me_ _ _

__Looking up at the owner of the hand, he took a stiff breath, Malia's worried eyes staring back at him_ _

__"Laura can handle this,"_ _

___I'm only human, I do what I can_ _ _

__"Yeah, she can.... but I'm in a hurry, and I'll be fine," he assured her, smiling a little bit more, restraining the cough that was building in his lungs as he gently brushed her hand off of his shoulder_ _

__His eyes were focused as he forced himself forward, his fingers clenching as the rose bush began to shake_ _

___Don't put the blame on me_ _ _

__His eyes locked on it, hand flicking, forcing the vines from the bush to slither across the ground like serpants as his attention directed towards Laura and Kali_ _

__Kali was weakened, but she was still a hell of a fighter and had landed a scratch against Laura's chest, her nee aiming upwards and hitting her in the stomach_ _

__He clenched his fingers tighter, eyes hard and teeth clenched together until his head started to throb_ _

__The vines crept up and clutched around Kali's ankles, wrapping slowly around her legs as Laura bared her teeth, the other wolf reaching up to scratch her face_ _

__Laura easily caught her hands, pinning them above her head and slashing her throat with her claws_ _

__The wolf slowly stood up, panting quietly, hands dripping with blood- Stiles kind of knew the feeling_ _

__He walked towards her, giving an anxious smile and using his magic to levitate the hose that had been lying next to the rose bush, snapping his fingers and turning it on, the water blasting against Laura's bloody hands and clothes_ _

__She didn't look half as amused as he did as the water stopped and clapped his hands together, a gust of hot air blowing against her and drying her off just as easily_ _

__He knew his tricks weren't exactly appreciated, but he had to do something to distract himself from the horrible ringing in his ears, and the track that had just started on his iPod was only doing so much for that_ _

___If I'm a bad person, you don't like me_ _ _

__He glanced down, noticing a rose caught in the vines around Kali's feet and plucking it easily from the greenery around it_ _

___Well I guess I'll make my own way_ _ _

__"I didn't need your help you know," Laura huffed as she followed Stiles out of the yard, arms crossing over her chest in mild annoyance_ _

___It's a circle, a mean cycle_ _ _

__"I know, but I'm in a hurry," he repeated, grinning as he presented Scott with the rose, eyebrows wiggling playfully at the werewolf's wince_ _

__"Dude.... seriously?" the wolf grimaced, making Stiles chuckle.. up until he heard Lydia shouting in the distance- _"Mom! What are you doing!?"__ _

___Where's your gavel? Your jury?_ _ _

__The witch's stomach sank, skin paling even further as he turned around and- for the umpteenth time that day- stared at the gun pointed at his face_ _

___What's my offense this time?_ _ _

__He dropped the rose at Scott's feet, his expression turning cold as he stepped in front of the wolves and human behind him_ _

___You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me_ _ _

__"Alright.... what the hell did I do this time? Did you really hate my little gift that much?"_ _

___Well sentence me to another life_ _ _

__"Shut up," the woman sneered, taking a step closer to the witch and clicking the safety off of the gun, her hand trembling, clearly aiming out of fear rather than malice_ _

___Don't wanna hear your sad songs_ _ _

__"I am sick to death of you people involving my daughter in all of your violence and war! I had hoped that once she married into the Argent family she would be more... discouraged and distanced from this world, maybe that horrible curse she's under would finally go dormant!"_ _

___I don't wanna feel your pain_ _ _

__"My powers are NOT a curse, and marrying Allison isn't going to have any effect on how I use them! Laura and Kira and everyone else.... they're my freinds, weather you like that or not, and they'll STAY my freinds no matter who I marry, why is this still a conversation!?" Lydia shouted in frustration_ _

___When you swear it's all my fault_ _ _

__"I was hoping you would grow out of this once you matured a little, but I guess I can't rely on that anymore, I have to get rid of the source of the problem," she sneered, taking a step closer to Stiles_ _

___'Cause you know we're not the same_ _ _

__"Woah woah woah! How am I the source of the problem!? I'm pretty sure that's just genes!"_ _

__"You were the one who triggered her powers in the first place! Being around your magic all the time in highschool, you always harassing her... and you've just stuck around like some kind of disease ever since!"_ _

__"Stiles never HARASSED me... mostly... and even if he DID trigger my powers, they would have manifested sooner or later anyway, I've made peace with being a banshee, why can't you!?"_ _

__Stiles took a breath, trying to refocus his eyes as the ringing in his ears continued to grow louder and louder, he was starting to feel dizzy, but he had to keep standing, he had to keep pushing forward, no matter how hard it was or how close he felt to collapsing_ _

__He swallowed tightly, squeezing his hand into a fist and stopping up the gun- there, danger averted, now it was just a matter of settling this somewhat politely so he could get to Derek before it was too late..._ _

__"I told you that I would never support-"_ _

__"Look, as much as I REALLY do want you two to work this out, I'm kind of in a hurry here, so if we can just wrap it up a little that'd be GREAT," Stiles noted dryly_ _

__Clearly, that wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, considering the angry sneer that flashed across Natalie's face_ _

__"I told you to shut up," she hissed, squeezing her finger around the trigger... and freezing when nothing happened_ _

__"Yeah.... a little lesson about witches, even the suckiest witch can stop a bullet, I'd like to claim it was some kind of special talent but... it really isn't,"_ _

__With a clear look of frustration, she tossed the gun to the ground, glaring daggers at him_ _

__"I would really LOVE to explain to you- for probably the HUNDRETH time- exactly how wrong you are Mrs. Martin, about me, about Lydia, about supernatural people in GENERAL but it's like trying to tell homophobes why dating my boyfreind doesn't make me a stain on society so I really don't have time for that kind of blackhole of time draining right now, so let's move on to the part where you temporarily surrender and I go save my boyfreind's life, huh?"_ _

__If the look on her face said anything, the older woman clearly didn't appreciate that remark, but before she could say anything, something very unexpected happened_ _

__Allison, who had been standing beside Lydia throughout most of this confrontation, suddenly stepped forward and elbowed her to-be mother-in-law in the back of the head as hard as she could, easily nocking her out and forcing her to the ground_ _

__"Sorry about your mom," she said quietly, turning her attention towards Lydia_ _

__"Don't worry about it," Lydia said quietly, hurrying to wrap her arms around her fiance' and squeeze her tightly_ _

__Personally, Stiles admired her restraint for holding back the "Sorry about your's" comment- but that was where he and Lydia were clearly seperated, she had a filter, generally, he didn't_ _

__But he didn't envy her position_ _

__It wouldn't be much longer before she was going to have to drop the truth bomb on Allison and...._ _

__And Stiles thought telling Derek that they were going to have to kill his uncle was hard_ _

__"We'll take it from here," Melissa said suddenly, taking a step forward_ _

__"I'm pretty sure we can handle it," Chris added a second later_ _

__"And if not, take her to see my parents, I'm sure my mom can convince her to be on our side," Kira smiled .. kind of... deviously_ _

__Stiles almost hoped it wouldn't come to that, whatever the hell Kira's plan was seemed frightening_ _

__(Though with Natalie Martin's near life-long hatred of him he couldn't say he'd exactly be UPSET if Kira's mom had to do something drastic)_ _

__"Alright, now that Crazy Cassie is dealt with, can we please skip to the next track already?" he huffed_ _

__He had to take another deep breath, God he felt dizzy... his eyes were blurring, his thoughts were scrambling, the ringing in his ears was just getting louder and louder_ _

___The same tricks that, that once fooled me_ _ _

__He took a shaking breath, the world around him starting to spin_ _

___ThEY *** -ou ***whe-re-_ _ _

__He jammed his fingernails into his palm, trying desperately to keep himself focused, just to get to the car, but it felt like he was wading through quick sand, like he could barely move_ _

___I'm not --- fro --- memo----_ _ _

__He could hear something in the distance, it sounded like people were calling out to him, but he just .. he just couldn't..._ _

___\-- just ---- **person** \--- fend for *** --  ignorance it's -- SIR- I-_ _ _

__And then, the ringing became so loud, that he couldn't hear the music at all anymore_ _

__He stumbled, his vision turning black_ _

__He didn't even feel it when he hit the ground_ _


	4. Tinnitus

**Kiss me hard before you go**  
Summertime sadness  
I just wanted you to know  
That baby you're the best 

_Everything was in black and white_

_Everything was beautifull and soft, and nothing hurt, nothing ached, everything was beautifull_

_**I got my red dress on tonight** _

_When he looked up, Derek was in the letterman jacket he had first fantasized about him wearing, leaning up against an old fashioned cadallac, smiling at him like the world was their's_

_**Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight** _

_Stiles' feet were moving, and he could feel every step vibrate throughout his body_

_**Done my hair up, real big beauty queen style** _

_He wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, leather jacket sleeves brushing against soft skin, he could see their breath, even in the warm summer air, like it was ... like it was magic_

_**High heels off, I'm feeling alive** _

_He had never felt so happy, so unbelievably, unrealistically happy, his eyes were pinpricked with tears and his heart was pounding loud enough to hear kind of happy_

_**Oh my God, I feel it in the air** _

_His ears weren't ringing and nothing hurt and everything was beautifull_

_**Telephone wires above** _

_He cupped Derek's cheeks, feeling the soft hair under his palms, stroking over his face and breathing him in_

_**Are sizzling like a snare** _

_Derek was leaning in, closing his eyes, and Stiles could feel his own starting to drift shut as he leaned in_

_**Honey I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere** _

_The kiss was magic and explosive and old fashioned Hollywood, drunk on starlight and high on radio waves kind of magic, the kind you hear about in movies but never experience in real life_

_**Nothing scares me anymore** _

_He was breathless but his lungs were full of air, his heart had stopped but he could still hear it beating, and everything was beautifull_

_**1, 2, 3, 4** _

_And then, all of a sudden, the kissing stopped, and there was a loud, banging noise_

_**Kiss me hard before you go** _

_His eyes opened slowly, and suddenly not everything was black and white anymore, there was one color bleeding through the imagery: Red_

_**Summertime sadness** _

_Derek's chest was bleeding, and when Stiles pushed him up his eyes were dead, he wasn't breathing and his heart wasn't beating, and the ringing in Stiles' ears was back again_

_**I just wanted you to know** _

_"No..."_

_**That baby you're the best** _

_"No no no no no!!!!" he screamed in agony, the pinpricks of tears from before turning into angry, hot rivers, pouring down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around his lover's body_

_**I got that summertime, summertime sadness** _

_"DEREK!!!" he screamed, sobbing miserably, choking on tears and prayers, begging between breaths for him to wake up, for Derek to just.... just **wake up!**_

_**Su-su-summertime, summertime sadness** _

_He collapsed to the ground, still screaming, the blood starting to pour in puddles around them as he leaned back against the car, tossing his head back with a truly anguished scream_

_**Got that summertime, summertime sadness** _

_Everything hurt, he had never felt this much pain- well.. no, not never, there was one other occassion where things had hurt like this, but he had hoped he would never have to relive that again..._

_**Think I'll miss you forever** _

_He carefully stroked his fingers through Derek's hair, the harsh realization flowing through him that this was his fault, all his fault_

_**Like the stars miss the sun in the evening sky** _

_If he had never gotten Derek involved in any of this, he'd still be alive right now, it was all Stiles' fault, he couldn't save him and now he was gone.... it was all his fault...._

_**Later's better than never** _

_He screamed again- screamed and screamed and his voice never seemed to go raw, his throat never seemed to hurt, so he just kept screaming_

_**Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive** _

_He screamed until all of the ringing and the music and everything he had ever heard was replaced by the sound of his broken voice_

_**Kiss me hard before you go, summertime sadness** _

 

~+~

 

Stiles woke with a scream, bolting straight up and reaching around blindly in search of ... something, maybe Derek, probably Derek...

"Stiles, Stiles! It's ok, it's ok,"

He looked up, panting quietly and feeling water stinging in his eyes

"Sc-Scott?" he breathed quietly, getting an affirmative nod from the werewolf above him

He swallowed tightly, slowly sitting up and looking around

He was in the Camaro, Laura driving, Malia next to her, Scott in the back with him...

It had been a dream..... just a dream....

He sniffed, wiping at the tears in his eyes so they wouldn't fall- though, he did miss one

"What the hell happened?"

"You passed out, you really lost alot of blood... Malia and I drained your pain, Laura would have too if she wasn't driving, but-"

"It's fine, I feel fine,"

Wich was... astoundingly truthfull, he was shocked that he didn't feel much pain, if any even

"I patched up your wounds the best I could, there was a first-aid kit in the back of my mom's car, but... it's just patch-work, you need to go to a-"

"I swear to GOD if you say the word 'hospital'-"

"I know, we're going to get Derek, I promise,"

He nodded slowly, sitting up a little and inhaling deeply, leaning back in the seat and swallowing

"How close are we to the diner?"

"Pretty close," Laura replied, taking one hand off the weel just long enough for her to turn the radio up

_Shout out from the bottom of my lungs_

It was only then that Stiles realized he didn't have his earbuds in, a slight panic rushing through him as he started looking around for them

"Relax, it uh... got kinda smushed when you landed on it," Scott said with a wince, slowly handing over Stiles' iPod

He was right, there was a noticeable crack in the screen and the body was kind of bent, but it was nothing a little magic couldn't fix

So he took a deep breath, setting to work with running his hands over the device, getting his magic stirred up to repair any damage, blinking back the bleariness in his eyes

_Big boys don't cry_

"You ok?" Scott asked quietly, carefully putting a hand on Stiles' shoulder

_They don't ask why_

"I'm fine," he said quietly, taking a deep breath and licking against his teeth

_There was a time when a moment like this_

"Just had a bad dream, that's all," he added a second later, watching with minor disinterest as the iPod started to fill out again, the scratch slowly vanishing into a smooth surface

_Wouldn't ever cross my mind_

He had just finished up with the device when he felt the car come to a stop, eyes flicking up at the mostly empty diner in front of him

_The sun will rise with my name on your lips_

He secured the iPod back in his pocket, about to put his earbuds in when his cell phone vibrated against his thigh and he hurried to pull it out of his pocket

_'Cause everything will change tonight_

Derek's name flashed across the screen and he immediately pressed "Answer", hurrying to put the phone to his ear

"Derek!? Are you ok!?"

_"Stiles! Don't come in here! Whatever you do, don't open the door!"_

His heart sank into his stomach, his hands starting to shake, blood running cold and eyes stinging with salt water again

"Why?" he chanced quietly

_"It's a bomb... she set up a bomb, it's... it's attached to the doors, if you open them it'll blow...."_

Stiles, for the first time in ages, was absolutely silent

_Take breath_

He didn't know what to say, hell he didn't know what to DO, how the hell was he supposed to work around that!?

_And push the anger down_

"Let me talk to her," he said quietly

_Try to remember calmness_

_"Stiles-"_

"Just.... please Derek, let me talk to her,"

There was a pause, and the next thing he knew, he heard the much too familiar sound of that... **_monster_** chuckling in his ear

_"Stiles, it's so nice to hear from you again,"_

"What the hell do you want Kate?" he snapped, gritting his teeth

_"Want? Well... what do you THINK I want?"_

"The destruction of all supernatural creatures? To finish off the Hales like you failed to do almost a decade ago? Revenge on me for what I did to your family?"

_"Wow, three for three, good for you,"_

"Cut the crap, you wouldn't have gone to the trouble to plant the bomb if you didn't want to extort something in return for not setting it off, so just tell me what it is before the freaking sun comes up huh?"

_"See, THAT is where you're wrong, I don't want anything from you Stiles, I don't want anything from any of you, the bomb just... presents you with a choice,"_

"What kind of choice?"

_"I'm so glad you asked, see... planting the bomb presents you with three different courses of action to take, A. You could think that you could disable it somehow, or maybe assume I'm lying and open the door anyway, thus blowing up yourself and everyone in this diner, B. You could NOT open the door, and sit there and watch as I execute every person in here, your boyfreind included, wile you try to come up with some convoluted plan to save them, or C. You could drive away so you don't have to witness their deaths, leaving Derek's LAST thought of you to be what a coward you are, in every option, Stiles, you lose,"_

No... not in every option, he refused to believe that

"I don't get something, if I blow up the place, you blow up with it, so why make that choice available to me? How are you going to get out of the explosion?"

_"Who says I will?"_

Stiles watched her through the windows, relieved that she hadn't closed the blinds- though he supposed that was intentional, so he would be forced to watch Derek die- or so she thought anyway

He was silent for a few moments, watching as she walked around, pacing in circles it looked like, and twirled her gun on her finger

_"Either tell me your choice, Stiles, or I start blowing brains out in ten seconds, starting with your boyfreind, now... what's it going to be?"_

He inhaled deeply, gritting his teeth and tapping Scott on the shoulder, mouthing _"Get out"_ to him before repeating with Laura and Malia

_There was a time when a moment like this_

_"Ten,"_

The three obeyed, and Stiles kept watching as Kate paced around, clearly not even paying attention to him- big mistake

_Wouldn't ever cross my mind_

_"Nine,"_

He climbed into the driver's seat the second Laura was out, not even bothering to shut the door

_The sun will rise with my name on your lips_

_"Eight,"_

He slammed his foot down on the pedal, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted

_'Cause everything will change tonight_

_"Seven,"_

The car collided with the building, driving right through- and smack into Kate

Everything was shaking, his breath, his hands, his heart, there were tremors everywhere and he could hear screaming coming from all directions

So he did the only thing he knew to do when things got to be too much

He put his earbuds in- hands trembling the entire time- and turned on his iPod

He swallowed tightly, fists clenching, and closed his eyes to steady himself

_Blue jeans, white shirt_

He got out of the car slowly, broken glass shuffling off of the banged up camaro as his feet slowly carried him towards the center of the newly wrecked building

_Walked into the room you know I made your eyes burn_

His breath caught in his throat, swallowing down sobs as he spotted Derek, legs forcing him forward a little bit faster as his boyfreind's name slipped out of his lungs

_I was like James Dean, for sure_

The second his arms were around Derek, something broke in him, he felt like the world had stopped turning for a breif moment, like everything that had shattered was back to one glorious peice again, like everything was ... _beautifull_

"Stiles," Derek breathed, finally catching his attention

He looked up with blurry eyes, a smile breaking over his face as he hurried to cup Derek's cheeks, kissing him breathlessly, his shoulders trembling and his body shaking

And it was perfect and it was amazing and his dreams had _nothing_ on this

But he had to let go, he had to stop, just for now, so that he could release the man in front of him

He smiled one last time, standing up and hurrying to start undoing the Wolfsbane coated rope around Derek's wrists, tieing him to the chair he was in, thankfull that magic was able to do most of the heavy lifting

_I will love you till the end of time_

"You're safe," he breathed, washes of releif and unfelt pain and euphoria and all sorts of other conflictions pouring over him all at once

_I would wait a million years_

"I'm safe... I'm ok, but you aren't, Stiles I smell the blood, what the hell happened!?"

_Promise to remember that you're mine_

"I'll tell you later, promise, but we need to get out of here- FAST,"

_Baby can you see through the tears?_

Derek seemed to understand the urgency, nodding as Stiles finally got the last of the rope off of him and helped him to his feet

_Loved you more, than those bitches before_

He glanced over his shoulder at Kate, biting his tongue, resisting the urge to do something drastic as his eyes flicked up towards the car-sized hole in the diner where Laura, Scott, and Malia were steadily making their way inside

_Say you'll remember, say you'll remember_

He glanced over Derek's shoulder at the other hostages- Isaac, Boyd, Erica, who he assumed to be Cora... it was easy to see how Kate had forced Derek's defenses down, using them as bait...

He wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, hugging him tightly and squeezing his eyes shut as he just.... breathed.... for the first time in hours, he just ... he just breathed

_I will love you till the end of time_

"I have to go," he said after a moment, finally leaning back and taking Derek's hand

"Theo has my dad, I have to go,"

"You mean WE have to go," Derek corrected with a frown

"Derek... your sister-"

"Laura is here, two betas are with her, they can handle this just fine and get everyone home safely, but don't you DARE try to 'stay in the house Carl' me!"

Stiles rolled his eyes, but he understood where Derek was coming from, and he didn't have the time or energy to argue with him

"Fine-"

"And another thing, what the hell!? You drove through a building!? What's the matter with you!?"

"Yeah... tell Laura I'll replace the car-"

"This isn't about the car!"

"And tell Boyd I'll replace the wall-"

"Or the wall! What in the HELL made you think that was a good idea!? You could have blown us all up!"

"Not really, the bombs were rigged to the doors, I didn't use the doors,"

The look on Derek's face was almost comical- almost

"How do you know that there weren't MORE rigs!? Or that you wouldn't accidentally set off one of the door rigs with that convoluted plan!?"

"She would have said so, she was egotistical, and that was her downfall, she had to have had some sort of escape plan, Kate is FAR from a 'die for the cause' type, she's an ego maniac and a sociopath, she only cares about herself so why would she kill herself for a goal she could accomplish in pretty much a dozen other ways? She had a way out, and if you're waiting on an explosive to go off where are you going to stand?"

"At the nearest exit?"

"Exactly, she kept pacing circles in that one spot, she must have had some plan around that area, a hidden door or maybe even just planning to shoot through the windows, I don't know, but the safest place was always where she was and she never budged from that spot, so ... even if the bombs DID go off, she would have been furthest away from them, meaning my going through there would have still given me a few seconds of time to stop the explosion from reaching you,"

"I hate that I'm saying this but you actually have a point," Derek said with an irritated sigh

"See?"

"But you could have gotten yourself killed! You drove through a BUILDING!!!"

Stiles smirked slightly, gently cupping Derek's cheek and padding his thumb slowly across his beard

"Hey now, what's the gravity upon your face? So I'm the one who's bleeding," he recited softly

Derek frowned, eyes narrowing

"That's completely unfair, you know I have a weakness for Bastille,"

"Wich is exactly why I'm exploiting it,"

"Not to interrupt," Stiles heard, turning and glaring at the huntress as she slowly made her way to her feet

Apparently the car hadn't been enough to kill her- _unfortunately_

"But I have unfinished business," she snarled, hunched over one leg, her arm hanging limp at her side as she raised her good hand and aimed her gun at Derek

Almost tiredly, at this point, Stiles clenched his fist, stopping up the gun and raising an eyebrow

"Really, you'd think they would know by now," he said boredly

"You would think," Derek huffed back, wasting no time in taking several long strides towards her with his claws and fangs already out

Stiles watched with a small smirk as the werewolf easily slammed the huntress into the hood of the car and slashed her throat with his claws

"Welp, there's no getting back from that one," Stiles smirked

Kate's head was barely hanging on from how deeply Derek had cut, and he had a feeling Laura would be making sure the body was properly disposed of before the night was over

Derek walked up to him again, reaching out with his clean hand and very gently taking Stiles' in his own, a warm look on his face as he wrapped his fingers around the witch's hand and squeezed

_We know most people, they get tiresome, we gotta find a way to get around them_

Stiles waved to the others with his free hand as he and Derek walked out, a strange sense of calm and peace resting over him as they walked to the car- _his_ car, finally, God

_The open road, it ain't my home, but when you're close everyone else looks lonesome_

He let go of Derek's hand only long enough to slide into the driver's seat, Derek in the passenger's, doors shut and seatbelts on as the wolf handed him the keys

_Let's hitch a ride to somewhere stark where the law won't recognize your face_

He started the engine, one hand on the weel as the other reached out and took Derek's hand again, squeezing, fingers tangling, thumb tracing patterns over his lover's skin as he pulled out of the parkinglot of the diner

_I'll hold you close, we'll find new names and then forget why we are running_

The road was empty, and at this time of night, in a considerably small town, why wouldn't it be?

_Tell me_

It was... so oddly peacefull, even as he sped down the road, even knowing that Theo was waiting for him, that danger and chaos lurked ahead, that this could all end at any moment

_We're in this together_

It was still.... peacefull somehow

_Relax_

Just having Derek near, feeling the warmth of his skin, glancing at the sight of his face out of the corner of his eye, it made him smile in some ... rediculously lovestruck and content way that he couldn't ever remember smiling in before

_I won't let them near you_

He raised their hands up a little, just enough for him to press a kiss to the back of Derek's fingers, before lowering them again and turning his attention back to the road

_I heard they got a sun of gold that shines down on Mexico_

Luckily, the sheriff's station wasn't far from here, they wouldn't have a long drive ahead of them by any means

_When we get there all tired and broke we'll leave the camaro in the desert_

He sped up a little bit more, eager to get there, both for his father's sake and for his own

_If we get caught I wouldn't turn you in, I would pretend that I don't know you, if I had to_

He wanted- NEEDED- this night from hell to be over with

_It'd break my heart but if I knew you got away it'd give me peace of mind till the day I died_

He needed to have this moment extended, but without the soul crushing anxiety of his father's well being on top of it

_Tell me_

He just needed life to move on, and be good with Derek, and he knew that it would, it would be, once this night was over

_We're in this together_

Suddenly there was a collision, another car slammed hard into the passenger's side and ran Stiles' car right off the road, forcing the car to fall into the woods, flipping not once, but twice as it skidded down the short hill and into the bottom of the forest

Stiles gasped for air, his hands tightening into fists, his stomach churning, the ringing in his ears was horrendous but not as bad as it had been before he passed out- thankfully, though his earbuds had come out at this point

He turned to look at Derek, releif flowing through him as the werewolf stared back at him, not seeming too worse for wear

Clearly the crash had done worse for the car than it had for the passengers- thank God....

"Hang on, ok? I'm gonna get us out of this, just... just stay still,"

He could feel the wound in his shoulder beginning to throb, whatever work Scott had done on it earlier must have come loose, and his legs... his legs were full of shooting pain, racing up and down every nerve, but he could get through it, the pain in his stomach wasn't even that bad, he could handle it

He unclipped the seatbelt, tumbling forward a little and gritting his teeth as he formed fire against his fingertips, reaching up and pressing it against the base of the steering weel

The plastic melted down, turning softer and more pliable so he could move it out of the way and safely- well, more safely than before- pull his legs out from beneath the dash

He hissed, maneuvering around and pressing his hands against the car window, breathing deeply and forcing a blast of energy out of his palms, shattering the window and forcing a small gust of wind to blow the remaining shards of glass out of the newly broken window

He shuffled and shifted a little more, finally managing to crawl out of the empty window and climbed to his feet, taking a deep breath

He could flip the car over... but it would probably take less energy and effort to just fish Derek out, he only hoped it wouldn't be too difficult...

He hurried to the passenger's side, trying to open the door but to no avail

With a curse, he inhaled, as deeply as he could, and summoned as much strength to his arms as possible, using as much magic as he could summon to aid his strength as he ripped the door off the hinges

The nerves burned in his arms, his shoulder poured with blood, and his fingers were throbbing horribly, but he managed

Using magic for things like self-healing and summoning strength or speed was... difficult, and draining, wich is why witches did it so sparingly, but he didn't have much choice in the moment, he'd just deal with the consequences later

"Ok... ok, can you get your seatbelt off?"

Derek nodded, easily unclipping the buckle of the seatbelt and slumping forward

"Good, good, now can you crawl out?"

Derek nodded again, hissing as he started to squirm towards the huge opening where the door used to be

"My legs are stuck..." he huffed

"Ok... ok, just let me-"

Stiles didn't even have the time to finish what he was saying, Derek had gripped the dashboard and shoved it forward and upwards, easily freeing himself and tumbling out of the car, letting Stiles help him to his feet

"Or.. or you could just... do that, that works too," he muttered, helping Derek brush himself off before stepping away from the car, heaving a low sigh and running his fingers through his hair

"Hell... and I really liked that car too," he muttered

"We'll buy you another one," Derek replied blandly, wrapping an arm around Stiles' shoulders and glancing down at him

"Ready?"

Stiles snorted, untangling his earbuds as quickly as he could and placing them back in his ears, turning the music up a little and nodding towards Derek

"Now we are," he confirmed, looping his fingers with the wolf's as they started to walk up the hill

_I don't like your little games_

"I smell a wolf," Derek said in a near growl, his eyes set hard as the two of them started up the hill, Derek a few steps in front of Stiles

"Yeah... somehow that doesn't surprise me," Stiles muttered

He had no idea who was after him this time, but between Peter's goons and the Argent family's goons... he'd be lucky if they would get finished pitting revenge against revenge within this DECADE...

Derek was standing stock still on the side of the road, and at first Stiles wasn't really sure why, until.. he got to the top himself...

_I don't like your perfect crime_

"Oh hell...."

"Hello Stiles," Deucalion smirked, standing in front of the SVU that had clearly been used to plow into their car

_You said the gun was mine_

"How the hell many people did you screw over?" Derek frowned, glancing at Stiles in frustration

"Apparently more than I thought," Stiles replied with a quiet sigh

_But I got smarter, I got harder, in the nick of time_

"If you're here for revenge, you have the wrong person, it wasn't my plan to turn on you guys, it was Donnovan's," Stiles said lowly, glaring as he turned his attention towards Deucalion, deciding not to even bother asking how he was still alive- it was probably his own fault for not checking for a body, and the how didn't even matter at this point, he was clearly alive, asking how wasn't going to solve any of his problems

_Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time_

"I know that, but unfortunately I found that Mr. Donetti is no longer among the living, so then I went to see about Peter, but it seems that he's dead too, even Kali is gone... meaning that it comes down to you and Theo Raeken, I was on my way to pay Theo a visit but by some stroke of luck I seem to have run into you first- quite literally,"

_I've got a list of names and your's is in red, underlined_

"So, what? The guy you want revenge on is dead so you're going for the next best option?" Stiles hissed

_I check it once, then I check it twice_

"No no, you misunderstand, I would have come for you regardless of Donovan's life or death status, even if it wasn't your plan or your intention to betray me, you still did, and I have _zero_ tolerance for betrayal,"

"So it doesn't even matter that I only went along with it because I was forced to!?"

"You had your options, I don't think there was a gun to your head... and even if there had been, you still betrayed me, and I have-"

"Yeah yeah, zero tolerance, I heard you the first time," Stiles sighed, taking a step forward

"I guess if you're hellbent on a revenge spree, I'm going to have to stop you before you go any further," he added with a frustrated breath, flexing his fingers as he moved to take another step- but something held him back

Or, _someone_ , rather

He paused, glancing up at Derek in confusion

"I've got this one,"

"What? No! Look, this is MY problem, Deucalion is after ME-"

"And Kate was my problem, she was after ME, but you took her down, now let me return the favor,"

The sentiment was sweet- _really_ \- but Stiles didn't like the idea of Derek going head to head with this guy- especially with this entire problem being his fault

"Derek, I appreciate it, but-"

"Listen to me," he said suddenly, tugging Stiles back against his side and leaning down to wisper as quietly as he could in Stiles' ear, though there was a good chance Deucalion probably heard him anyway

"Stiles, you're injured and exhausted, and you and I both know that Theo isn't going to make this easy on us, you need to save your strength for him instead of using it all up with this guy, let me take this one, it's the smarter decision,"

God... Stiles hated it when he was right....

But there was no fault in trying one last time to persuade him right?

"Derek.... he's an Alpha, a powerfull one at that, I mean he survived an explosion-"

"It wasn't that hard," Deucalion provided from his place a few yards away

Stiles just rolled his eyes, his face stern and sure as he stared into the wolf's eyes

"Derek... I don't like this,"

"Neither do I, but I'd like it even less if you got yourself killed, I'm not going to argue with you about this Stiles, we have limited time to work with, so don't keep wasting what we have of it on a fight that I'm not going to let you win,"

Derek was right about that too, unfortunately, they didn't have time to argue about this, and Derek- being in full health- would have a better chance at cleaning this up quickly than Stiles did

The witch inhaled deeply, a frustrated glare in his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at the car Deucalion was standing in front of before turning his attention back to Derek and giving a small nod

"Where's your gun Deucalion? I was expecting an illegal weapons dealer to be packing something ... not pocket-sized," Stiles asked as he and Derek started walking closer to the Alpha

"I knew better than to bring a gun to a witch fight, I only had to learn that lesson once," the other man answered simply, still frighteningly unmoving, standing intimidatingly still in front of his car

"There's just one problem with that plan," Stiles said slowly, stepping aside and letting Derek take a place in front of him, his eyes already glowing blue, his fangs dropped and his claws forming at the tips of his fingers

"This is a wolf fight now," Derek growled, sprinting forward and aiming a slash at Deucalion's face

Stiles didn't like the smirk on the older wolf's face, and he liked it even less when Deucalion easily caught Derek and slammed him to the ground

But he couldn't be bothered with this at the moment, he had other things he had to do

Derek rose up, kicking Deucalion in the gut and sending him flying a good several feet from the car, hurrying after him and thus leaving plenty of space clear in front of the car

_I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me_

Stiles let out a breath, trying to focus on the music flowing through his ears and doing the best he could to filter out the sounds of the wolves fighting behind him

_I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams_

He made his way to the car, his eyes hard and determined as he walked towards the trunk, blue electricity sparking at his fingertips with every step

_I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me_

He placed his hand on the trunk, magic sparking throughout his hand and flowing into the lock, easily popping the trunk open

He lifted it up and stared down at the contents in... awe? Fascination? Terror...?

He really wasn't sure, all he knew was that there were easily more weapons in here than he had seen since- .. well, since what he had seen a few days ago from Deucalion's collection, actually

This shouldn't have surprised him

He licked his lips, reaching down and picking up couple of guns- just in case of emergency, he still hated the things- and shoved them into his pockets

Most of what was in there were fire arms though, he didn't see any daggers, unfortunately, meaning all he was left with was the left-over one from earlier that night

He did see a few grenades... but that could be too dangerous, if one of those got tossed with innocent people around...

Best to leave them alone

He was about to give up when his eyes caught on a soft silver glint in the moonlight, tilting his head as he moved around the machinery to uncover it

And the moment he saw it, he practically fell in love

A metal bat

_Ohh, look what you made me do_

Stiles never liked being a violent person, he had to be as of late for survival, but he had never wanted to become this

He had never wanted to become this person, covered in blood, leaving bodies in his wake

_**A murderer** _

But he didn't have a choice now, it was far too late to turn back

He had never liked being a violent person, but he _did_ have something of a passion for baseball....

_Look what you made me do_

He picked up the bat, tightening his grip around it as he stalked towards the wolves battling a few yards away

It was hard to tell, given that they were both bloodied and looked a little worse for wear, but it looked like Derek might just be winning

He watched as his boyfreind forced Deucalion to the ground, roaring loudly as he raised a hand in the air, just as Deucalion grabbed his arm and forced them both upwards

The struggle was becoming feircer and feircer, but it looked like Derek was just about to land the finishing blow to Deucalion's throat

Wich was exactly why Stiles had to intervene

_Look what you just made me do_

He raised his bat and easily cracked it down against the Alpha's skull, nocking him- and Derek with him- to the ground

Derek had been jostled off to the side, giving Stiles the perfect opportunity to bring the bat down a second time and make _absolutely sure_ that Deucalion wouldn't be healing from that

_Ohh, look what you made me do_

Derek looked up at him, a look of shock mixed with ... mild fear on his face, clearly disturbed by the events that had just taken place

"What the hell!? I had him!!" he finally snarled

"Exactly, I couldn't let you kill him Derek, if you had done that you would have been an Alpha and I know you don't want that, it would cause unnecessary stress on you _and_ on your pack, I couldn't let you kill him, but I couldn't let him live either,"

Derek's shoulders sagged, a look of realization dawning on his face as he slowly turned his attention to the ground, his features starting to shift back to a more human appearance

"I-"

"Don't," Stiles said quietly, reaching out and smiling weakly as Derek took his hand

"I don't need you to thank me, really,"

Derek sighed, not seeming pleased with any of this, but also understanding the urgency as he climbed to his feet, meeting Stiles' eyes and leaning forward just long enough to give him a quick kiss

They shared a deep breath, Stiles' hand coming to rest on the back of Derek's neck as the wolf pressed their foreheads together, eyes closing for a long moment before opening again

"I take it you're driving?"

Stiles grinned, eyes sparkling as he waved his lover to the passenger's side of the car, the track on his iPod changing as he opened the door for him

_Well I had me a boy, turned him into a man_

"Yes Sir," he purred back, shutting the passenger's side door and making his way to the driver's side

_I showed him all the things that he didn't understand_

He slid into the driver's side, leaning over to buckle Derek's seatbelt and smirking playfully at him

"Safety first,"

Derek- grinning with equal mirth- gently took Stiles' iPod from him as the witch buckled his own seatbelt, plugging the device into the audiojack of the car

"Music first," Derek teased back

_Hey hey, until I made my get-away_

Stiles tossed his head back and laughed, snapping his fingers with glee as the engine roared to life

 _God_ he loved the roar of an engine, it tuned out the ringing in his ears even better than the music

_One, two, three, they're gonna run back to me_

He put his foot down against the pedal, his hands squeezing the weel as he took off down the road, feeling a slight sense of calm wash over him as Derek placed his hand against Stiles' thigh and gave it a slight squeeze

_They always wanna come but they never wanna leave_

"One more," he breathed as they raced down the empty road

"One more, then I'm done,"

_They won't let go_

 

~+~

 

_Lonely shadows following me_

"Are you ready?"

_Lonely ghosts come a-callin'_

Stiles nodded slowly, turning the engine off and taking a breath

_Lonely voices calling to me_

"As ready as I'll ever be,"

_Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone_

With that, he unclipped his seatbelt and pushed the car door open

The sheriff's station seemed emptier than it usually did, and Stiles wasn't sure what to make of that

Either Theo had let nearly everyone go... or he was just holding them all captive in one place

Stiles' nerves were on a thin thread, and he was extremely greatfull when Derek wrapped an arm around him and started guiding him towards the entrance

They pushed the doors open, and it was ... _alarming_ how silent everything was

No ringing phones, no chattering people, nothing, just... silence

It felt like they had just stepped into a ghost town

It wasn't until they made their way back a little bit further that people started showing up

_Oh a thousand faces staring at me_

Cops and deputies all tied to their chairs, cloth gags in their mouths, staring desperately at the two of them as they passed by

_Thousand times I've fallen_

Stiles' heart was pounding, his breathing shallow and his blood pumping fast

_Thousand voices dead at my feet_

To say it was distressing to see the people he had grown up around- people he cared about, who he practically considered to be family- bound and gagged and held prisoner by a maniac that Stiles allowed into his life, like a fox being invited into the chicken coop...

_Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone_

To say it was distressing was to put it mildly, especially when he glanced up and saw his father sitting at the very front of the room, in the same condition as the others, staring solemnly at his son

_And my mother told me "Son let it be"_

"DAD!!!" he screamed, rushing forward and reaching out, magic already forming at his fingertips, tears brimming in the corners of his eyes, but he didn't make it there

_Sold my soul to the calling_

He found himself thrown into one of the desks behind him almost instantly, the wood breaking beneath the weight of his body and the immense force of the blow he had taken

"STILES!!" Derek screamed, snarling as his features shifted and he ran after the witch, only for Stiles to put a hand out in front of him, silently asking him to stop

_Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone_

Derek, with a look of frustration on his face, reluctantly obeyed, watching as Stiles carefully climbed out of the pile of wood beneath him, shifting his shoulders and brushing himself off, a trail of blood leaking out of his mouth from where he his teeth had nailed down into his tongue

"Theo," he hissed with malice, glaring across the room at the other man

"Stiles," he answered back, a sick smirk on his face as he flexed his fingers, claws long and already formed

"Let them go," Stiles demanded lowly

"I don't think so,"

_Ghosts and devils come a-callin'_

"Theo this is OUR fight! This is OUR business so let them go!"

_Calling my name, oh, lost in the fire_

"Now why on EARTH would I do that? You hurt me Stiles, and now I'm going to hurt you, but you don't seem to care about physical pain very much, atleast.... not your own,"

"Why the hell are you so obsessed with this!? I stabbed Peter in the back because he stabbed me there first, you were just collatoral!"

Theo looked both irritated and amused somehow, as if he could barely believe exactly how stupid Stiles was or something

"You still don't get it, do you? You have no idea what's really going on here... well I'm about to show you,"

_Oh gimme that fire_

Without warning, Theo jumped over the desk in front of him, leaping at Stiles with his claws drawn

_Oh gimme that fire_

Stiles ducked, grabbing a peice of wood from the shattered desk beneath him and holding it up like some kind of spear, but it only grazed Theo's shoulder as the wolf landed behind him, grabbing him by the shirt collar and yanking him down

_Burn, burn, burn_

Stiles twisted, summoning a ball of fire in his palm and aiming for Theo's head, only for the other man to stop his wrist suddenly and force it down against the wood below them

_Oh gimme that fire_

Stiles felt his heart skip a beat as the remnants of the desk lit ablaze beneath him, hurrying to climb to his feet and turn his attention towards his father, who Derek had managed to sneak towards and start to untie

_Oh gimme that fire_

Theo was up again, brushing embers off of his sleeve as he chuckled, eyes practically crazed as he bared his teeth in a sickening grin

_Oh gimme that fire_

If Theo had his way, this entire place was going to burn down around them, with all of the cops trapped inside... and Stiles couldn't allow that

_Burn, burn, burn_

"WAIT!" Stiles shouted at the top of his lungs, effectively causing a curious look to cross over Theo's face

"You're upset with me for betraying you... right? So let me apologize,"

Apparently that was exactly the right thing to say, given that the crazed aggression in his features simmered into something calmer, more considering

"I'm listening,"

"Alright.... I'll apologize, but not here, you want me to say I'm sorry? We go someplace else, deal?"

"If we leave there goes my leverage, your little boyfreind over there is already trying to set them free- don't think I didn't notice,"

"So what? Either you kill me or I kill you, right? You've already got me here Theo, you don't need leverage anymore! If I die, you get to kill them anyway, right?"

Theo seemed to think this over for a moment, rolling it around in his head before tsking and shrugging his shoulders

"Nah, I think I'm just going to kill you here, maybe I can beat an apology out of you," he suggested, lurching forward

_You hit my once, I hit you back_

Stiles cursed, ducking underneath him and rolling off to the side with a grunt of frustration, he had really been hoping that would work but... apparently not

_You gave a kick, I gave a slap_

"STILES!!" he heard, turning his head towards the sound of his father's voice... and distracting him from the kick Theo aimed at his stomach

_You smashed a plate over my head, and I set fire to our bed_

He went flying backwards, narrowly avoiding the flames that had been started on the debris of the desk and stumbling to his feet, a worried glance being tossed towards his father

_You hit me once, I hit you back_

"Derek!" he shouted, releif washing over him when his boyfreind gave him a silent nod of affirmation, already pulling the sheriff to his feet and hurrying to push him towards the doors as quickly as he could, despite the older man's insistence to help his son

_You gave a kick, I gave a slap_

"You're too easily distracted!" Theo snarled, his claws poised to attack as he slashed forward

_You smashed a plate over my head, and I set fire to our bed_

"Not as distracted as you think," Stiles growled back, grabbing Theo's arm with one hand and launching his arm out to grab his throat with the other, squeezing tightly, starting to drain the air from Theo's lungs

_My black eye casts no shadow, your red eye sees no blame_

Theo gasped, choking, and grabbed Stiles' arm with his other hand, his claws sinking in deeper, deeper, until it was too painfull and Stiles' grip was forced to loosen with a shout of pain

_Your slaps don't stick, your kicks don't hit, so we remain the same_

Theo snarled, the spell having broken as he headbutted Stiles- **_hard_** , successfully nocking him backwards

_Blood sticks, sweat drips, break the lock if it don't fit_

"STILES!" Derek shouted, apparently having come back into the station at some point, he looked like he had been in the process of untying one of the deputies but-

_A kick in the teeth is good for some_

"Stiles!" that voice though... that chilled him to the bone, eyes wide and terrified as he turned his attention towards his father, who had just started to help one of the other deputies

_A kiss with a fist is better than none_

"Derek!! Get him ou-!" he gasped, coughing desperately as Theo kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to roll onto his back

_A kiss with a fist is better than none_

"Like I said- too distracted," Theo cackled, grabbing Stiles by the hair and jerking him upwards, hitting him square in the face

_I broke your jaw once before, I spilled your blood upon the floor_

Stiles gritted his teeth, snarling and grabbing the dagger from his pocket, jamming it into Theo's leg as hard as he could and slashing downwards

_You broke my leg in return, so let's sit back and watch the bed burn_

Thankfully, the pain caused Theo to let go, allowing Stiles to yank the dagger out and jump onto one of the desks behind him

_Blood sticks, sweat drips_

"Derek!! Get him OUT of here!" he screamed again, frustration brimming under his skin, the last thing he wanted was for his father to even _witness_ any of this, much less be an active participant in it

_Break the lock if it don't fit_

"I'm not going anywhere until my deputies are safe! Not to mention my _son_!" the sheriff insisted with a growl, taking his gun out of it's holdster and stepping away from the now empty chair

He had clearly been trying to concentrate on getting the hostages out of the station before the fire took it all down, but seeing Stiles in danger must have changed the priorities

"This is a bad idea Dad!"

"Not from where I"m standing," the sheriff growled, clicking the safety off

"Do you have Wolfsbane bullets!?"

The sheriff shot the gun, just in time for Theo to grab Stiles' leg and yank him down from the desk, dodging out of the way of the bullet

Stiles was lucky enough to grab the cord to the desk lamp on the way down, tugging it with him and grabbing it by the base in order to crack it over Theo's head, but it did only minimal damage, considering he nearly had Stiles by the throat again a second later

Between the growing fire behind them and his father still trying to get a shot at Theo- with poor Derek ushering the last of the cops out in the background- it was becoming increasingly clear that the only way to get out of this without harm coming to innocent people was, in fact, to leave the station, and if Theo wasn't prepared to let him... he'd just have to run

Magic stirred at his fingertips as shards of glass from the lamp's broken lightbulb levitated into the air, shooting into Theo like bullets and giving him the chance he needed to roll away from the attacking wolf

He climbed to his feet quickly and spotted the nearest window- the one in his dad's office....

Making use of his magic again, he sprinted across desks, tumbling to the floor and scrambling into the office, Theo right on his tail as he summoned a massive ball of magical energy and pushed it against the window, shattering the glass and creating the perfect opening for him to jump out

He could hear the sirens and shouting in the distance, his body shaking as he ran to the nearest squad car and snapped his fingers, the door unlocking and swinging open just in time for him to slide in and slam it shut behind him, hurrying to run a shock of electricity through the ignition and start the car

He glanced in his rearveiw mirror, a slight wave of satisfaction washing over him as Theo hurried to his own car, dodging a rain of bullets from any cop in the area who had managed to draw their gun since getting out of the station

The minute Theo was in his car, Stiles slammed on the gas pedal and took off, swallowing as he shakily connected his iPod to the audio jack and turned on the music

_I ain't got time for you baby_

His heart was practically in his throat at this point, sweat pouring down his skin, mixing with the steady streams of blood that were leaking out of his wounds

_Either you're mine or you're not_

He could hear the sounds of sirens behind them, but they were pretty far away, Theo, on the other hand, was right on his heels

_Make up your mind sweet baby_

He swirved the car suddenly, turning into the parkinglot of a strip center and praying that there was another easy exit onto a different road

_Right here, right now's all we got_

He gritted his teeth, his hands tightening on the weel as he took in the landscape, there didn't seem to be another exit nearby... that only meant one thing

_A little party never killed nobody_

He turned the weel, bracing himself as he rammed over the median in front of him, hurrying to spin the weel again to keep from crashing into the wall of trees in front of him

_So we gonna dance until we drop_

Now successfully on another road, he stomped on the gas pedal again, thankfull for the general lack of cars on the backroad

_A little party never killed nobody_

He needed to come up with an actual plan, he needed to think of a place to go and a way to get there, the less people the better....

_Right here, right now's all we got_

It came to him then, as much as he wished it hadn't, there was only one place he could think of that was nearby, full of open space, and devoid of people at this time of night

The storage facility...

Derek had showed it to him a few days ago when wanting to show Stiles some of the books they had ordered for the store, it was the same place where his own storage unit was

He just sincerely hoped that Derek's unit wouldn't get mixed up in this, the last thing Stiles wanted to do was hurt his business before it even started up, but it was the safest thing he could think of...

_A little party never killed nobody_

Theo was right behind him again, but atleast there was some decent space between them at this point

He turned onto another road, taking him straight to the highway, not his first choice given the small population of other cars there, but it was the fastest way to get where he needed to be

Besides, this was actually a good thing in a way, he could use the same tricks he had used for years now, weaving in and out of traffic, making himself blend in....

He hoped

_All we got, all we got, all we got, all we got_

He changed lanes suddenly, jumping behind a black SUV and watching as Theo tried to make the same change

Luckily for Stiles though, he knew exactly how to avoid being caught at this point

_Glad that you made it, look around_

He swirved in front of the SUV and changed lanes again, right as Theo had changed to get behind the black car

_You don't see one person sitting down_

He waited for Theo to catch on before slowing down and changing lanes again, this time positioning himself behind a red volvo

_They got drinks in their hands and the room's a bust_

The tricks could go on for a wile, but Stiles knew if he wasn't sparing with them Theo would probably just get sick of it and do something reckless

And the absolutely last thing he wanted was to get more innocent people hurt because of him, so he started looking for the best exit to take to get to the storage district

"Come on... come on..." he muttered

His eyes sparked, a grin coming to his face as he caught sight of the exit he needed

_At the party of the year I'm a master plan_

"Bingo..."

_If you make me realize I'm your man_

He turned off the highway, heart racing and grinning a little brighter, Theo was still stuck in traffic, and with any luck, he'd be like that for a wile

_If the people get loud_

He hadn't heard the police sirens in a wile, they must have had a hard time following after Stiles' little stunt at the strip center, between that and his traffic tricks

It was unfortunate, but atleast it would be less people in danger

He was getting pretty close to the turn he needed to make now, licking his lips as he looked for the right road

He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he got closer, bracing himself for a hard turn

_Speak easy, rocking the fellas I'm breezy_

He turned down the road, anxiety starting to climb higher and higher, but for a completely different reason

He hadn't seen Theo's car since the highway, and he was starting to worry that the delay wasn't for lack of driving skills

What the hell could he be doing that would take so long...?

He just hoped that whatever it was, it didn't involve Theo hurting someone else....

_It don't mean a thing if I ain't got your heart_

He was almost there, he was just about to take a turn, the storage units were right there, when-

He suddenly slammed forward, his car skidding out of control despite his most desperate attempts to regain control of it

He crashed into the sidewalk- **_hard_** , his head slamming against the steering weel, ears ringing again, louder and louder

His vision was blurring, his breathing was shallow, he distantly realized that Theo had somehow managed to sneak up on him, though he still wasn't quite sure how, but that was the last thought that went through his head

_If you tear it apart, no_

 

~+~

 

_**Call me a theif** _

_It was raining outside, pounding against the windsheild of the car_

_**There's been a robbery** _

_His hands were cold, so he slid one against Derek's, watching as the werewolf's fingers wrapped around his, squeezing slightly as they rested lazily against the gear shift_

_**I left with her heart, tore it apart, made no apologies** _

_He was driving one-handed down the road, pulled into the motel parkinglot and turned off the engine, the only sounds were the windsheild wipers swiping against the glass, the rain pounding against the roof of the car, and the shallow breathing coming from both of their throats_

_**I've been living in the darkness** _

_No ringing, just peace_

_**Shadows in my apartment, heartless** _

_Music played faintly in the background, although Stiles was barely hearing it now, but it wasn't to drown anything out, it was just.... there_

_**Taking love just to spill it on parchment** _

_For the first time in over a decade, he didn't need it to drown something out_

_**Next page and I'm out again** _

_Everything was dark and quiet and cool, bodies warm and leaning across the gap between their seats as Stiles wrapped an arm around Derek's neck and tugged him closer_

_**I've been living in the night life** _

_Lips clashed, nails scratching down against dark hair, Derek's warm hands sliding against his body, down his chest, over his back, **everywhere**_

_**Lips hit you like a driveby, frost bite** _

_He didn't know how Derek ended up in his lap, but there he was, shrugging off his letterman jacket, letting it drop to the floorboards as his hands reached out to brace against the headrest of Stiles' seat, lips crashing into his again_

_**Ice cold, I mean they cut you like a sharp nife** _

_Stiles' fingers gripped hard against the wolf's t-shirt, dragging him down lower, taking his bottom lip between his teeth and sucking at the flesh until it turned red_

_**Next page and I'm out again** _

_The windows were fogging up, and all Stiles could do was let out a breathless laugh as Derek's lips attached to his throat_

_**Skin on my skin, what a wonderfull sin** _

_Everything was good, everything was soft and peacefull and magnificent_

_**Take your breath, but you're asking for more** _

_Stiles' leather jacket was next to fall victim to the floor, the witch's body pressing up harder against Derek's, pressing him against the dashboard and feeling pricks of excitement against his skin at the gasp that left his partner's lungs_

_**The tip of my finger is tracing your figure** _

_His fingertips pressed against the back of Derek's neck as he dragged his teeth down his throat, the wolf's hands gripping hard against his shoulders_

_**I say "Goodnight" and walk out the door** _

_"I love you..."_

_**Call me a theif** _

_He felt sheets beneath his skin, cool to the touch and softer than anything he had felt all day_

_**There's been a robbery** _

_He gasped softly, eyes opening as he stared around the strange, dark room, wondering how they had gotten into the motel room without his even noticing_

_**I left with her heart, tore it apart, made no apologies** _

_Everything was different somehow, but the same, and it was a confusing and surreal feeling_

_**Call me a theif** _

_He could hear the music even though there was no radio playing and he was devoid of any earbuds_

_**She was on top of me** _

_"Hey, you ok?"_

_**Then I left with her heart, broken and scarred, made no apologies** _

_He looked up, brown eyes meeting with green-hazel-gold, and everything settled again, no matter how weird it all seemed, no matter the strangeness, it was too good and soft and comfortable to worry about anything now_

_**We can be so hollow** _

_"I'm fine," he promised, leaning up to wrap his arms around Derek's neck, dragging him down again_

_**Like my rib cage, the echoes follow** _

_Derek's skin was bare, just like his, and he wondered absently when their clothes had gone missing_

_**Follow me like the fears I swallow** _

_Something was wrong, something was off, but he didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to acknowledge it_

_**And drown in all my mistakes** _

_Couldn't he just stay here? God.... please ... couldn't he just stay oblivious to it all?_

_**All I know is that your skin bled** _

_He stared up at Derek again, soft red scratches from Stiles' fingernails decorated his shoulders, dark purple bruises from his teeth stained his throat, but..._

_**Like the ink dripped from my pen** _

_When the lightening flashed outside all he saw was blood, it was everywhere, it was .. it was..._

_**My bed will be drenched in a scarlet rose red** _

_Everything around him was bloody, the sheets, their clothes, the room, and when he looked in the mirror hanging over the dresser across from them- a dresser in a motel room?- he could see himself dripping with it too_

_**And drown in all my mistakes** _

_He choked out a sob, feeling Derek's hand move up to cup his cheek, thumb stroking over his skin, and it was... **dizzying**_

_**Skin on my skin, what a wonderfull sin** _

_"Stiles look at me, look at me," Derek demanded, his hand warm on Stiles' face, pressing a little harder, forcing him to stare up into the wolf's eyes_

_**Take your breath but you're asking for more** _

_"You're ok," he promised quietly, ghosting a kiss against the witch's lips, "I'M ok...."_

_**The tip of my finger is tracing your figure** _

_"Derek... Derek something's wrong...." Stiles mumbled, inhaling as the wolf's thumb padded against his bottom lip, dragging it down, kissing the corner of his mouth_

_**I say "Goodnight" and walk out the door** _

_"Nothing is wrong, I'm here, you're here, it's over now, it's all over," he promised, his free hand taking Stiles', twining their fingers together, pressing the witch's hand into the mattress_

_**Call me a theif** _

_Goddess... it was intoxicating, his touch, his breath, his heat, it flooded Stiles with a heavy, soft buzz, a magnificent, quiet buzz, not at all like the dull ringing that always plagued him before_

_**There's been a robbery** _

_Why wasn't there ringing...?_

_**I left with her heart, tore it apart, made no apologies** _

_Derek's lips were on his throat, sucking a mark into his pale skin, driving thought out of his head as Stiles squeezed his hand harder_

_**Just call me a theif** _

_His teeth sank into Stiles' skin, pulling a keening gasp out of his throat as his free hand moved up to Derek's shoulder, scratching hard down his back_

_**She was on top of me** _

_He wrapped his legs around Derek's waist, head tilting back, chest arching up, the world spinning around him_

_**Then I left with her heart, broken and scarred, made no apologies** _

_This was good... this was bliss... he could live like this and never regret a thing, he could live with this and never want to leave_

_**Girl you better just lock me up** _

_He already never wanted to leave_

_**Because I've never been good for nothing** _

_His head rolled to the side with a moan, Derek's lips trailing down his chest, his eyes opening just long enough to see lightening flash again_

_**So you better just lock me up, lock me up** _

_This time though, it wasn't just blood he saw, it was Theo's face, staring at them through the window_

_**Girl you better just lock me up** _

_He jumped, grabbing the sheets and backing up against the headboard, his body shaking his breathing heavy as he stared out the window_

_**Because I've never been good for nothing** _

_But there was nothing now, no Theo, no blood, nothing...._

_**So you better just lock me up, lock me up** _

_"Stiles? Stiles!! Stiles what's wrong!?"_

_**The tip of my finger is tracing your figure** _

_"I can't stay..." Stiles said quietly, feeling his throat tighten at just those words alone, reaching up to gently cup Derek's face, dragging him a little closer_

_**I say "Goodnight" and I walk out the door** _

_"Stiles.... Stiles why-"_

_He shook his head, blinking back tears and leaning up to give him one more, slow, faint kiss_

_"It isn't right, this.... this isn't right, I can't stay here no matter how badly I want to.... as amazing as this is, as you are, I have to go... I can't be selfish,"_

_This... dream... hallucination, he wasn't sure... it was amazing, but it wasn't real_

_And he knew what the real Derek kissed like, what he felt like, he knew his breath and his heat and the beating of his heart_

_And this was a fantastic immitation, but it wasn't real_

_And if Stiles didn't leave all of this now and take down Theo once and for all, that heart would be gone forever_

_He kissed him one last time, just for parting's sake, and let a few of the tears roll down his cheeks, pressing their foreheads together and letting go of a shaking, shivering breath_

_"I love you," he promised, feeling everything starting to fade once again_

_"I love you...."_

 

~+~

 

 _Is this the real life?_  
Is this just fantasy?  
Caught in a landslide  
No escape from reality

Stiles hissed quietly, his head was pounding, ears ringing louder than they usually did, everything ached and the world was spinning around like a top

_Open your eyes_

His eyes crinkled, wincing as he slowly forced them open, everything was blurred at first but... it slowly started to adjust into place

_Look up to the skies and see_

He blinked a few times, his vision finally adjusting as he stared up at the dark sky above him, wondering breifly when he had managed to get out of the wrecked car

_I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy_

"Hello Stiles, quite a nap you had,"

_Because I'm easy come, easy go_

Stiles jerked up, restraining a cry of agony as pain punched through his head, instead pressing his hand against it and taking a deep breath as he glared up at Theo

_Little high, little low_

"Feel better now that you've slept? You know, I'm the one who dragged you out of that car, and I happened to find quite an interesting little surprise when I did,"

_Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me_

Stiles watched with a frustrated glare as Theo dropped the guns he had taken from Deucalion's car down to the ground... all except for one, that is, that one he started twirling on his finger as he slowly stood up and started stalking towards Stiles

"Aw hell...."

_Mama, just killed a man_

"Remember how you offered to apologize to me earlier?" Theo asked slowly, grinning maniacally as he clicked the safety off

_Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he's dead_

The barrel of the gun pressed against his forehead, and although Stiles could still use his magic on the weapon- although he most certainly _did_ use his magic on the weapon- he decided not to say anything, wondering where Theo was going with this

He didn't seem like the "Take the easy kill" type and Stiles had a feeling that he wanted something out of him...

"How do you like the music Stiles? I thought it felt like a Bohemian Rhapsody kind of moment,"

Stiles clicked his tongue, nose wrinkling and head tilting slightly

**Mama, ohhh**

"Do you really want to talk about music right now?"

**Didn't mean to make you cry**

"No, you're right, there's something I want to talk about much more," Theo replied slowly, crouching down until he and Stiles were at eye level and pressing the barrel harder against Stiles' forehead

"About ... that apology you mentioned,"

"No, nuh-uh, that was a one-time offer Mr. Mercury, you passed on it when you decided to wreak havoc at the police station,"

"Funny, I don't think I did," Theo smirked back, poking the gun forward again, as if that was some kind of motivation for Stiles

"You think you're going to shoot me Theo? Did you forget the are old rule!? **Never bring a gun to a witch fight**! I've already jammed it, what are you expecting to do?"

The smirk on Theo's face made Stiles sick to his stomach, it made his fingers go numb from how cold he felt, and when he pressed again, forcing Stiles to lean back, he realized exactly what Theo was smirking about, the gun was just a distraction...

**Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth**

"This was never about the gun Stiles," he smirked

"I see," Stiles said, letting out a quiet huff and swallowing tightly

**I don't wanna die**

"You're really going to stab me in the back? How symbolic,"

**I sometimes wish I had never been born at all**

"Oh it's not just symbolism, do you feel where the blade is poking you? Right here, at the base of your spine? If I stab you right here, you'll never drive again, you'll be paralyzed forever, sure... you could _try_ magic, but magic healing is always so _iffy_ , the more severe the injuery the harder it is to heal, that's why you still have Tinnitus isn't it? You never did manage to get rid of the ringing... and if you don't cooperate, even if you DO live through this, you'll never manage to get rid of the paralysis either,"

Ofcourse.... ofcourse this was Theo's plan! Why wasn't he surprised!? Theo knew him, as much as Stiles wished he didn't, he was smart and he knew that Stiles didn't care about death, he cared about **life** , Stiles cared about the people he loved, and the few things that truly mattered to him, Theo wanted to break his heart and if he couldn't take away **someone** Stiles loved... he'd take away **something** instead...

"Now... about that apology,"

"Why does it matter so much? What's my word got to do with anything? This was never about YOU Theo, it was about Peter!"

"And I was just collatoral right!? That isn't good enough Stiles! I liked you! I saw things in you that I've never seen in anyone before! And I **knew** you were smart, I knew you were going to outsmart Peter whenever you got the chance just like I was! Peter was fine but he wasn't enough, he was too passionate, too angry, too wrapped up in revenge to see clearly, but you? You saw clearly just like I did, I did my research, I looked into everyone and everything and planned the perfect coup and I was going to ask you after tonight to join me, we could have been so much MORE, we could have taken down Peter TOGETHER, I would've gotten his Alpha power and you would have been my right-hand man, we could have started our own organization, our own PLAN to take out the hunters, if you had JUST been the person you pretended to be! You not only ruined my plans Stiles, you ruined our freindship,"

Stiles wasn't sure if he was impressed by Theo's planning and ambition... or disturbed by how clearly delusional he was....

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry that, in doing what I had to do to get away from Peter, you ended up as collatoral damage, I'm sorry for leading you on and making you think we were something we weren't, if I lead you to believe we were freinds just because we liked the same music and had a hug? Then that was a **grave** miscalculation on my part, and I mean that sincerely, I'm sorry... now would you kindly remove the nife from my back?"

Theo seemed skeptickal for a moment, but ultimately removed the blade and stabbed it into the ground, clearly believing he didn't need it anymore

_Magnifico_

Without a single moment of hesitation, Stiles punched Theo in the face as hard as he could

Theo tilted backwards and gave him just enough of an opening to spring to his feet, looking around in a desperate scan of the area, trying to figure out where they were

His iPod was resting quite carefully on a rock a few feet away, a speaker attached to it, he could hear sirens in the distance, meaning the police were atleast _trying_ to catch up to them, and looking around he saw...

Storage containers, so they had the same idea

_Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?_

Theo clearly took advantage of Stiles' moment to process this, leaping towards him and nocking him to the ground, claws slashing wildly at him as Stiles hurried to put his arms up and protect his throat

_Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!_

Stiles aimed his leg upwards, trying to get a good kick to the groin in, but Theo was apparently anticipating that, as one hand suddenly stopped slashing and jammed his claws into Stiles' thigh, ripping a scream of pain from the witch's throat

_Bismillah! We will not let you go!_

Stiles summoned flames to his hand, and when Theo slashed down again, hurried to grab the werewolf's arm, sinking the burn down into his skin

_Bismillah! We will not let you go!_

The claws in his leg twisted, tugging at his flesh and causing another agonized scream to force out of Stiles' throat, but he kept going, kept burning until Theo leaned back enough to give him room to raise up and headbutt him as hard as he could

_Bimillah! We will not let you go!_

It left him dizzy and aching, the world around him spinning and stars in his eyes, but he couldn't stop now, so he lunged forward and nocked Theo to the ground, wrapping his hands around the werewolf's throat and squeezing, his magic fusing in, sucking the air out of Theo's lungs

_Will not let you go!_

Theo's claws were still scratching at him, but the blows weren't really hitting, not past what he could tolerate atleast....

Atleast....

Until Theo's claws reached up higher and scratched at his ear, ripping at the skin and causing Stiles to jerk back, wich... unfortunately presented Theo with the opportunity he needed

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no!_

He raised up, biting hard into Stiles' arm and releasing his teeth only long enough to reach out and grab the witch by the throat

_Oh mama mia mama mia, mama mia let me go_

He slammed Stiles into the ground, squeezing his throat harder and harder, forcing the witch to gasp for air as he dug his nees into Stiles' thighs, keeping him in place

_Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me_

Stiles scratched desperately at his back as Theo moved his hand up to cover the witch's mouth, holding his head down with all of his strength, pressing it so hard into the ground that Stiles could feel the gravel digging into his scalp

_For me_

Theo raised his claws, preparing to slash across his throat as the witch glanced over, his eyes catching on the gun next to him, it was close.... so close....

_For me_

He curled his fingers, his magic dragging the weapon closer... closer... closer........

***BANG!***

_So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?_

His plan worked, snapped his fingers to pull the trigger, release the bullet into the air, caused Theo to startle, giving him just enough of an opportunity to actually reach the gun and wrap his finger around the trigger

_So you think you can love me and leave me to die?_

He shot a bullet through Theo's shoulder, forcing him backwards as he fought to roll out from beneath him, gasping and panting for air, shakily rising to his feet, but Theo wasn't done yet, even though the blood poured from his shoulder and he looked quite worse for wear, he absolutely wasn't done yet

_Oh baby!_

Stiles could hear the sirens drawing closer, he only had to hold out for a little bit longer, even if he didn't kill Theo, the police would be here soon enough to finish him off.... he hoped

_Can't do this to me baby_

Theo lunged forward again, Stiles pulled the trigger but the werewolf managed to dodge it, grabbing the witch's arm and twisting it behind his back, trying to force Stiles to drop the gun

_Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here_

Stiles summoned another ball of flames, crying out at the pain in his arm as it twisted harder- and his good arm, at that- but he forced himself to twist further and pressed the flames against Theo's chest, right as he heard the sound of tires screeching, the sirens only a few yards away now

Theo let go, and just as Stiles righted his arm, preparing to shoot again, the werewolf reached out with both hands, his claws ripping against Stiles' ears, one claw going in each and tearing from the inside

The second his claws made contact, Stiles pulled the trigger, shooting him in the heart, but the damage was done

_Nothing really matters_

Both collapsed to the ground, the ringing in Stiles' ears had never been this intense, this loud, drowning out almost everything

_Nothing really matters to me_

He could barely hear the music, it was muffled, it was like he was underwater

_"--ti--les!! S--es---! Sti---s!!"_

He looked up, his breathing heavy as he turned his attention towards the figure running to him

**"STILES!!!"**

_Derek?_

He could feel something moving beside him and turned his head, glancing with fury at Theo as he twitched, obviously still alive, if barely

Apparently Derek felt the same frustration, because for the first time since knowing him, he watched Derek do something that was... almost sacred in the werewolf community, something only a few, powerfull, evolved wolves could accomplish

He _shifted_

Fully, entirely shifted, and God he was _beautifull_

Sleek black fur, peircing blue eyes, and face twisted with anger as his jaws clamped around Theo's throat and tore

Stiles wanted to smile, but everything felt too heavy

He wanted to speak, but he could barely even breathe

The ringing was so loud... so loud in this weirdly hollow, deafening state

Everything suddenly seemed to go in slow motion, almost unmoving, he glanced up at his iPod, now fallen from it's perch on the rock, and slowly dragged it closer, close enough that he could atleast somewhat hear it

The song had long since changed, he didn't know when, or how much time had passed, and he could barely hear the lyrics, but he recognized it enough to hear it in his head

_If there is no Heaven, fuck it_

He could hear a loud, booming voice, it seemed to be calling his name, but he didn't know who it belonged to

_You can sleep with me tonight_

When he glanced up again, he saw Derek's face, but the irony was he didn't know if it was really there, or if he was imagining it

_We can all just be tragic or lucky_

The image seemed to flicker between disheveled and blood soaked, and soft and smiling and toned in greyscale

_Beneath the faded stars_

Everything was starting to go dark, everything was fading in quiet and going blurry and numb, and he didn't quite know what to make of it

_I don't wanna get better, I wanna burn like the Fourth of July_

He felt something though, amongst not being able to hear, hardly being able to see, he did feel

_A little bit I got to fill me up, a little bit of spit in my eye_

Derek's hands were warm, warmer than they were in the dream world, and he could feel them wrapping around his, squeezing, trying to push away the numbness

_I just wanna die wild_

His vision turned completely dark, and even though he couldn't quite hear anymore, he could have sworn he heard one last thing

**_"I love you"_ **

He wished he could say it back

_I just wanna die wild_

 

~+~

 

**_All of these ghost towns I keep traveling through_ **

_He was a child again, and that was ok, he was inside a memory and that was ok_

**_All of these traffic signs and lonesome bars blind the veiw_ **

_It was such a normal day, the sun was shining, and they were laughing_

**_I swear I can be better_ **

_"Isn't this a beautifull day Stiles?"_

_It was_

_"It's a beautifull moment, isn't it?"_

_It really was_

**_If you've got visions of the past_ **

_"I think this is the perfect time to introduce you to something special,"_

**_Let them follow you down_ **

_"I've been waiting for JUST the right moment for you to hear this song.... you've never heard Bohemian Rhapsody right?"_

**_They'll come back to you someday_ **

_He shook his head, kicking his legs excitedly and watching as she turned up the dial on the radio_

**_And I found myself attached to this railroad track_ **

_The music was clear and amazing, he had never felt such a rush before, it was the most incredible sensation_

**_But I'll come back to you someday_ **

_"I already put the song on your iPod for you, this song... it's my favorite, this song has really gotten me through some tough times,"_

**_To you_ **

_"I bet it'll get you through some tough times too,"_

**_To you_ **

_"I love it," he said with a bright, excited smile, staring down at his iPod and squeezing it just slightly, not enough to hurt it, but just enough to really appreciate it_

**_To you_ **

_"I love you Mom,"_

**_Someday_ **

_She smiled at him, the sunlight streaming in through the windows, and it was so beautifull_

_"I love you too, my little-"_

_All of a sudden, it was gone_

_The beauty was gone and everything was tragic_

_The car was slammed into, they both were tossed forward, and all Stiles could hear was screaming- both from he and his mother- as the car flipped, rolling off of the road and down the hill_

**_If you've got visions of the past_ **

_"MOM!!!!!!!!!!"_

**_Let them follow you down_ **

_The car kept rolling, it didn't seem to stop, and as Stiles' head fell backwards, slamming into the seat, he started to hear a loud, screeching, ringing in his ears_

**_They'll come back to you someday_ **

_He reached out desperately towards his mother, his vision was starting to go dark, consciousness drifting away, but he reached out regardless_

**_And I found myself attached to this railroad track_ **

_The next time he opened his eyes, he was staring at his father's face_

**_But I'll come back to you someday_ **

_"Where's Mom!? Where's Mom!?"_

**_To you_ **

_The look on his father's face was the only answer he needed, squirming around on the gurney as the strangers around him tried to speak, tried to calm him, but he couldn't hear them, his mind was entirely still_

**_To you_ **

_The second he looked over and saw them pulling the sheet over his mother's body, everything went silent, utterly and deadly silent_

**_To you_ **

_Except... except for the God awfull ringing in his ears...._

_**Someday** _


	5. Epilogue

**Three months later....**

 

_Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga_

"I still can't believe he's fully recovered like this..."

_Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga_

"You know that magic healing, it does wonders,"

_Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga_

"Yeah but... he was in such bad shape when Derek found him, I guess I just expected him to take longer, but he's been helping out here for over a month now and seems completely fine, but I'm curious about something... his ears are still ringing, right? I mean he still listens to the music like he always did.. I'm just wondering, is there any particular reason that magic can't heal that?"

_Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga_

"I tried asking him that before, you know, when he started really getting good with his magic, I asked for years and all he would ever say was that he couldn't fix it, he never wanted to try going to another witch either, eventually I stopped asking, I think... I think in some ways, he wants to keep it, I don't know if it's out of guilt, to... punish himself or... if it's to remember,"

_I can't stop this feeling_

Stiles didn't know how much people ever thought he could hear with his earbuds in, but considering the conversation, he assumed not much

_Deep inside of me_

"Guilt and remembarance ... there's a pretty thin line between them," Laura mused softly

_Girl you just don't realize_

"Hey, I'm going to grab lunch, same as usual?" he asked, poking his head out from behind one of the bookshelves as Laura turned around to greet him, a slight smile on her face

"Yeah, Derek should be back any time now too, not that you actually need to remember him," Laura smirked teasingly

"You really don't," he smirked back, sliding his sunglasses on and turning towards his father, unfortunately he didn't even get a chance to ask his father what he wanted for lunch, the sheriff beat him to it

"I'm heading back to the station, and I swear to God Stiles, if you bring me some kind of rabbit food crap, I just won't eat lunch at all,"

"Sheesh, so touchy, but I don't believe that for one second Daddy-O, you get hungry enough? You'll eat whatever is at your desk, I have that on good authority, and don't think Parrish is going to go against me and ruin you either, he and I had a very long chat," he said with a playfull huff, waving as he stepped out of the bookstore and inhaled the outside air

_I'm hooked on a feeling_

He started to sway, twirling a little and shimmying his shoulders as he started his trip down the sidewalk

_I'm high on believing_

Parrish was a freind- a Hellhound freind- who was completely in agreement with Stiles' diet plan for his father- it was just a shame that the aforementioned Hellhound hadn't been at the station when he could have used some fire power a few months ago

_That you're in love with me_

He heard a car horn honking behind him, stuttering mid-step and pulling his earbuds out as he turned to face the person on the road

"Hey Shakespere! Need a ride?"

Stiles tilted his head, smirking slightly at the music playing loudly on her radio

_I can move mountains_

"Um... actually Malia Shakespere was a poet, a playwright, not a musician,"

_I can work a miracle, work a miracle_

The look on her face told him that she wasn't exactly impressed

_I'll keep you like an oath_

"Whatever, you're not driving," she noted

_"May nothing till death do us part...."_

Stiles shrugged, rocking on his heels and shoving his hands in his pockets

"I don't always drive, walking is good too you know,"

"Well yeah it's good for people like _me_ , you know, for obvious reasons, but aren't you kinda... skinny? To actually enjoy walking?"

_She wants to dance like Uma Thurman_

"I'll see you at dinner on Sunday Malia, thanks," he snorted back, taking his hands out of his pockets, earbuds in once, and watching as she drove off with a wave- atleast... he hoped she was holding her hand up at him to wave.... he wasn't sure what finger she was holding up...

_And I can't get you out of my head_

He winced quietly as she drove off, shaking his head and putting his earbuds in again

"That woman just shouldn't be allowed to drive..."

_I'm hooked on a feeling_

So Sunday dinners were a thing now with himself, his father, and the Hale pack

He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it still, not when the closest thing he had had to a "Family dinner" since his mother's death had been sharing take out with his dad in a car or on the couch, so he was still getting used to... all of this really

Things had changed, things were different now, but better

A hell of alot better actually, and not just because he was finally free from Peter- though that was plenty reason enough

Since getting rid of Theo, since that _night _things were just... kind of amazing__

He felt like he had a real family here, now, with Derek and his family and his pack, helping out at the bookstore wile his apothecary got under way, things being.... some kind of normal

It was all good

Weird, but euphorically good

_I'm high on believing_

Not everything had changed though, like this, for instance

Even though it was something he used to do for Peter, he had come to enjoy dancing down the street from the bookstore to the coffee shop every day and getting an order from Scott

He enjoyed doing lunch runs, the diner was only a few blocks away from the coffee shop so he could place the order, pop in to see Scott and pick up coffee- wich was infinitely better than the diner's, no offense to Boyd- and then grab lunch on the way back

Derek was frustrated that it was one of the few things he didn't take a car to do- and with mildly good reason, Stiles dropped things a fair amount of the time- but what could he say? He loved the nostalgia

_That you're in love with me_

He swung into the diner, grinning as he waltzed up to the counter and leaned over it, grinning up at Erica as she stared back at him- clearly unimpressed

"You know, you COULD just order over the phone," she noted with a smirk- just like she did every freaking day

"But if I did that I wouldn't get to talk to you every day and that'd be a real shame, besides, I'm never quite sure what I want," he noted with a quiet hum, plucking a menu from the counter and glancing at it with only mild interest

He knew enough by now to know what they had, it was just a question of what he felt like on that day

"By the way," Erica drawled slowly

"We finished the remodeling,"

That had Stiles' head jerking up, eyes round behind his sunglasses as he jumped over to the fancy new machine a few feet away

_A juke box_

How had he missed it!?

He had been waiting for them to get this thing ever since they started repairing the damage from Stiles' car and he had suggested it in the first place!

He hurried to grab a pair of quarters out of his wallet, excitement building as he slipped them into the slot and pressed the first great song that he could find, pulling his earbuds out so he could hear it at full blast

_It's late in the evening_   
_Glass on the side now_   
_I've been sat with you_   
_For most of the night_

He could probably spend all day scrolling through the songs

Juke boxes had always been like candy machines to him, and it was all he could do to keep himself moving and not linger there too long

After all, he did have the bookstore to get back to, and Derek...

Derek hadn't been exactly clear with what errand he was running, but he was supposed to be back by lunch time

"Are you actually going to order food, or are you just going to stand there and gawk at the juke box all day?" Erica teased

Stiles blinked, moving closer to the counter again and shrugging

"Come and dance with me, there's nobody else here right now, so you have the time,"

"It's almost three o'clock on a Tuesday in the middle of fall, ofcourse nobody's here,"

"So you have the time," Stiles repeated with a smirk, holding his hand out to her

Erica rolled her eyes, but stepped out from behind the counter and took his hand anyway

_I need you darling_   
_Come on set the tone_   
_If you feel you're falling_   
_Won't you let me know?_

Stiles was in no way a good dancer, wich seemed to be fine, because Erica wasn't either

He had grown closer to Derek's pack in the last three months, they had become more than just freinds by circumstance and now were... actual freinds

He felt like he belonged now, for the first time in years- if ever

It was an amazing thing to feel

"You do know you're going to have to order sooner rather than later right?" Erica asked with a teasing smirk as Stiles twirled her

_Sing, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh_

"I can order now if you want, Laura wants the usual,"

Erica rolled her eyes, spinning Stiles instead- and spinning him hard, forcing the witch to stumble as she stepped back behind the counter

"Cora already called, by the way," she noted

Stiles tilted his head, about to ask further about that when he heard the bell over the door ring, turning around and feeling his mouth drop open

_"DAD!"_

The sheriff paused in the doorway, a look of disdain on his face

"Aw hell..."

"What the hell are you doing here!?"

"He's here every day," Boyd mentioned as he leaned into the window seperating the kitchen from the diner

" _Really?_ Was that necessary?" the sheriff huffed in frustration

"Order something other than pie and unlimited coffee next time," Boyd shrugged back, ducking back into the kitchen as Erica slipped him an order ticket- likely Laura's

Stiles turned back to his father, a look of judgement on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"You're usually gone by now," his father griped back as he made his way to the counter

Stiles' mouth fell to the ground, utterly offended as he marched to the counter right behind him

"Give him NOTHING but salads and water, and Derek and I will have what we had yesterday,"

Erica gave him a salute, and Stiles glared pointedly at his father before making his way back towards the door, patting the juke box in appreciation on the way out

He was going to have to get his father back for this...

And the second he saw the squad car, he knew exactly how

With a devilish smirk on his face, he snapped his fingers, the radio turning on

_Woah, we're half way there_

With an extra little flick of magic, he ensured that nothing would make that radio turn off- not for the next 24 hours atleast

_Woah, living on a prayer_

"Eat pie behind my back will you?" he snorted to himself, putting his earbuds back in as he started back down the sidewalk

_And it's my whole heart_

His eyes lit up, a small smirk crossing his face as he made his way across the street, already pulling a small stack of coins out of his pocket

_Weighed and measured inside_

He handed the coins over to the flourist, plucking a red rose from the canister outside and bringing it closer to his face to inhale the scent

_And it's an old scar_

The memories with Peter were far from good, but he had always cherished his memories with Scott, and roses were still as much a weird part of their relationship as they always had been

Just like this coffee shop

He opened the door, practically spinning inside and leaning over the counter with a smirk, just waiting for Scott to notice him

_I'm on trial, waiting til the beat comes out_

"Let me guess, two coffees and two cokes?" Scott asked with a small smirk upon turning around

"You know me so well," Stiles smirked back, glancing over his shoulder and feeling a little bit more somber as he caught sight of Allison and Lydia at a table a few feet away

Things were... rough with them

Not in a disasterous way, but it was understandably difficult for anyone to lose their mother- not to mention more on Allison's side- especially to someone you know and love

And Lydia's mother...

Well, she wasn't exactly gone, but she still didn't accept her daughter for who she was and although Stiles didn't know the details he knew that the relationship was strained at best

He hadn't talked to them much over the last few months, particuarly Allison, but according to Lydia she wasn't holding any grudges, they both just needed some time to get through things

On their own, as it were

He was tempted to go over to them and see how things were, but he knew that was probably stepping over his boundaries a little, and he didn't want to risk doing any more damage to the relationship than there already was, especially with the fragile relationship they had with Derek and his family...

_I'm miles away, he's on my mind_

"Hey Stiles!"

He jerked slightly, tugging one of his earbuds out

"Kira! Hey," he greeted with a small smile, leaning against the counter

"Kira!"

Apparently that was all it had taken to pull Scott away from his work behind the counter, considering how quick he was to practically leap out from behind it and tug Kira into a happy, excited kiss

Distantly he could hear the music playing in the coffee shop, it was faint but it was mostly legible

_Well maybe I'm just thinking that the rooms are all on fire_

It was an old song, but it seemed to suit them, the softness of it, the faint mysticism, it was oddly fitting to this moment

_Everytime that you walk in the room_

Kira's eyes were nearly glowing, and he could nearly see the sparks between them as they held onto eachother, staring into eachother's eyes

_Well there is magic all around you, if I do say so myself_

It was, in it's own way, kind of sickening, but he had a feeling that he and Derek didn't look much different

_I have known this much longer than I've known you_

"Not to interrupt," Stiles said slowly, putting his earbud back in and raising an eyebrow

"But I think the coffee is going to start overflowing any time now,"

Predictably, they both turned a bit red, and it was all Stiles could do to keep from snickering as he held the rose out to Scott with a raised eyebrow

"It's just as well, I only stopped by because Lydia mentioned that she and Allison were going to be here," Kira noted, giving Scott one more quick kiss before ducking over to Lydia and Allison's table, probably to talk about their next "Book club" meeting

Stiles still had no idea what they actually did at those so-called "book club" meetings but he had nearly given up trying to figure it out

_And it's my whole heart_

"I don't guess you have any cokes with names on them left huh?" Stiles asked with a small pout, staring at the two utterly plain cokes on the counter in front of him

"Sorry, I think that ended in August,"

Ofcourse it did

"That's alright, thanks anyway Scotty," he shrugged back, sliding the cash across the counter and grabbing the necks of the coke bottles between his fingers wile he picked up the coffee tray in his free hand

"I'll see you tommorrow," Scott replied with a wave

_I'm on trial, waiting til the beat comes out_

Stiles was half-way to the door when he heard someone call out to him, turning and blinking in surprise as Lydia jogged up behind him

"Didn't you say you had found a building for your apothecary?"

So that was another thing, he had decided to make the apothecary brick and mortar after all

It hadn't been an easy decision to come to, and it wasn't something he had really planned on deciding so soon but...

When he saw the building right next to the bookstore was free, and it was the perfect size and design, he couldn't exactly pass it up

It'd have been like passing up fate- atleast in his opinion

"I just wanted to let you know that when you need to order inventory... Allison's dad happens to know a guy, so... give us a call,"

His lips twitched into something akin to a smile, and without a word he set the drinks on a table behind Lydia

"Guard those for a second for me ok?"

"Wait- Stiles!"

Not that he listened, he had something far more important to do

He walked up behind the table, glad that Allison and Kira were sitting with their backs to him, and snapped his fingers, wich, although garnering a look of surprise from Kira, thankfully, didn't do anything to grab Allison's attention

She had her own earbuds in, and although he couldn't really hear what she was playing- between her earbuds and his own- he did see the title on her phone's screen

**Still Into You - Paramore**

Somehow, that song really reminded him of the two of them, not that he could really figure why- atleast not without hearing it again

He glanced at the note that he had appirated, then over his shoulder at a largely displeased Lydia, and set it down on the table across from Allison

_Say I won't return, but I never learn, it's a pity, ohh_

"What did you expect me to do?" he asked innocently, grabbing his drinks again

He decided he would let Lydia decide what to do with the note, it wasn't his place, and she knew her fiance' infinitely better than he ever would anyway

Besides, he had other things to get to, so he balanced the drinks evenly, pushing out of the coffee shop as the song changed on his iPod once again

_There's a nail in the door and there's glass on the lawn_

Once he stepped outside, however, he very nearly dropped the drinks

_Tacks on the floor and the TV is on_

Derek was waiting for him outside, leaning up against a sleek blue Camaro

_And I always sleep with my guns, when you're gone_

For a moment he wondered if he was dreaming again, everything was shaded in black and white and Derek looked like he just stepped out of a movie about the 70s with that familiar letterman jacket and too tight jeans

_There's a blade by the bed and a phone in my hand_

But this was reality, it wasn't a dream... it was real

_A dog on the floor and some cash on the nightstand_

He set the drinks down, running forward and wrapping his arms tightly around Derek's neck, hugging him as hard as he could and feeling an air of releif wash over him as Derek hugged back

_When I'm all alone the dreaming stops, and I just can't stand_

"Derek... what the hell did you do?" he asked with a breathless laugh

"Nothing, really, you wrecked your car- and my car, for that matter- I bought another Toyota but something told me that you wanted something a little flashier,"

"You know me so well," Stiles said with a laugh, grinning from ear to ear and giving him a happy, excited kiss on the lips

"I am paying you back though, you know that right?"

Derek shrugged, moving behind him to grab the drinks from the ground before someone stepped on them

"I figured," he mused back, opening the passenger's side door and sliding in

Stiles couldn't wait, racing to the driver's side and practically tearing the door open

The inside of the car was as nice as the outside, and he was having something of a surreal moment as he looked around at all of the shine and sheen

"Can we go pick up lunch before we starve to death?" Derek asked teasingly

"Yeah yeah," Stiles snorted back

_Goodnight moon_

He reached over to get the keys from the cupholder, only then noticing that there was a bottle of coke sitting there that he hadn't picked up

_There's a shark in the pool and a witch in the tree_

He picked it up with confusion, eyes widening and lips parting as he read the name scrawled across the bottle

_**Stiles** _

"Derek... dude.... how-"

"It wasn't as hard as you'd think," Derek shrugged back, reaching over to grab his seatbelt

_There's a big black crow sitting on my window ledge_

"I find that very hard to believe," Stiles snorted back, setting the coke down reluctantly and reaching for his own seatbelt

"No really, the hardest part was deciding wich name to put it under, I almost went with your real name but I have a feeling Mzicyslaw is just asking for a typo, and .. no one really calls you Mischeif anymore so-"

"I love it," Stiles said honestly, reaching out to squeeze Derek's hand, a serious look on his face

"I love you," he added a second later

Derek's face softened, looking content and .. in love... as he reached out and cupped Stiles' face, drawing him in closer

"I love you too," he promised quietly, giving him a quick, chaste kiss before leaning back in his seat again

Stiles just smiled once more, slipping the keys in the ignition and feeling his heart leap with excitement as he started the car

"Why blue, by the way?" he asked curiously as he started out of the parkinglot

"Your jeep,"

He thought as much, he had showed Derek his jeep- the only car he never used in a job, the only car he barely drove, that he only drove on special occassions, his _mother's_ car- about two months ago, and he could see with the way that Derek looked at it that it resonated with him somehow

He just hadn't quite expected this

_Goodnight moon_

He took his earbuds out, a slight smile on his face as he reached over and turned the radio on, though, apparently it wasn't the radio after all

Derek seemed to have put a CD in already

_The latest and greatest amazing arrival_

"Oh come on, really?" Stiles huffed

"I found a song with your name in it, and believe me, this was hard enough, don't start criticizing it,"

Stiles snorted, shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear as he drove down the road

"Oh, this came in the mail for you by the way," Derek mused as he reached under the seat, grabbing an envelope and handing it to the driver

Confused, but at a red light, he took the envelope and tore it open

"A postcard? Who the hell puts a postcard in an envelope?" he asked rhetorically, confusion only growing at this point as he turned the card over to read what was written on the back

_Greetings from Hawaii,_

_I hope you and Derek are doing well, I, for one, am doing quite a bit better than I was in California, I seem to have found a much better clientele to work with now that I'm traveling more, how is everyone? Is the young Argent girl still sore at you? Don't worry, she'll come around, I hear you'll be opening your apothecary soon, good for you, I do hope you'll invite me to the grand opening, or atleast, to your future wedding, that **is** why I let you go, after all, you and my nephew finally found peace- and with eachother, no less, how could I be responsible for ruining that? For now, I'll consider us even, I'll look forward to that invitation _

_Best regards_

_-P. H._

"Stiles?"

Stiles blinked, staring up at Derek in agony

They had won... they had freaking won! He couldn't... he couldn't-!

"Stiles what's wrong?"

His eyes flicked back down to the postcard, then up at Derek's face, the werewolf's features clearly growing with more and more worry as the seconds ticked by

"Nothing," he said, honesty dripping through his voice as he tore the post card into peices, stuffing them in the cup holder and crushing his coke bottle on top of them

He reached out, tangling his fingers with Derek's as the light turned green and he started down the road again

He wasn't going to let anyone destroy his happy ending, not now, not ever

If Peter wanted a fight, he would get one, and Stiles would win- just like last time

But until then, it wasn't his concern, Peter wasn't his problem anymore, and all Stiles had to do was drive down the road, Derek by his side, and music on the radio

"Nothing at all,"

_A big hand hooray_   
_Oh come all ye' trustfull_   
_Let the band play_   
_A waltz into mischeif_


End file.
